TPP rally against Ko Wen-je verdict draws thousands in Taipei

Taipei, March 29 (CNA) Thousands of people gathered in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei on Sunday to protest the guilty verdict and 17-year prison sentence handed to former Taiwan People's Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), with speakers accusing the judiciary of political bias and abuse of power.

Ko, who finished third in Taiwan's 2024 presidential election, was convicted Thursday by the Taipei District Court of bribery and other corruption-related offenses in connection with a real estate development project and three other cases. The ruling can be appealed.

Addressing the TPP-organized rally on Ketagalan Boulevard, Ko, 66, said the judiciary had become a "political tool" used to persecute the public and that prosecutors had operated without sufficient oversight or checks and balances.

"This was not a normal trial in a country governed by the rule of law," Ko said, adding that when judicial power "can no longer be checked, it is easily abused and turned into a tool of those in power with ulterior motives."

TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) accused prosecutors investigating Ko of threatening witnesses and fabricating interview records, saying they had violated the legal principle of nonpublic investigation in favor of "chaotic public disclosure."

Masaki Liu (劉金豈榕), a 45-year-old high school teacher and supporter of Ko, said she believed the ruling was "political persecution" designed to prevent Ko from running in the 2028 presidential election.

"There is no evidence of corruption. Most importantly, there is no money trail," Liu said.

Organizers said the rally had drawn over 10,000 people as of 2 p.m., growing to 80,000 by 5 p.m. Police did not provide an estimate of the crowd size.

Also in attendance were members of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT), including 22 lawmakers.

KMT Legislator and party spokesperson Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government of trying to eliminate political opponents and silence dissenting voices.

"We want to tell Taiwanese society that the ties between the KMT and TPP will endure. We will absolutely not kick Ko Wen-je or the TPP when they are down," Niu said.

The rally also drew critics of Ko, including around a dozen members of the pro-independence group Taiwan Republic.

Taiwan Republic Chairperson Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) said Ko had chosen not to pursue legal remedies through proper channels and had instead tried to manipulate populist sentiment by using street protests to challenge the courts.

In response, DPP spokesperson Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) said the party would not comment further on individual judicial cases out of respect for the judiciary.

Lee urged opposition parties to "fulfill their responsibilities" and not claim to stand with the public while "paralyzing" major budget bills in the Legislature related to people's livelihoods and national defense.

Ko was found guilty of multiple offenses across four major cases, including one involving the Core Pacific City development project, where he was found to have accepted NT$2.1 million (US$65,586) in bribes from proxies of Core Pacific Group chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) in exchange for an illegal increase in the project's floor-area ratio, according to the ruling.

The former Taipei mayor, who maintained his innocence throughout the trial, was also found guilty of misappropriating political donations and breach of public trust.