Detention extended for Ko Wen-je, Taipei councilor (update)

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) The Taipei District Court has ruled to extend the detention of former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-che (柯文哲) and Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) for two more months from Aug. 2 as part of an ongoing corruption case.

Two other co-defendants in the case, real estate tycoon Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ko's former mayoral office head Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), were granted bail of NT$100 million (US$3.398 million) and NT$20 million, respectively.

Sheen and Lee will also be barred from leaving the country for eight months and prohibited from contact with, harassing, threatening or inquiring after the case with co-defendants or witnesses.

The two will also be placed under electronic monitoring and required to carry a mobile phone to report regularly to the court starting Aug. 2, if they are released on bail.

The four, along with several others, were indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office in December 2024 on charges of bribery, embezzlement and breach of public trust.

Monday's court ruling was the fourth time Ko and Ying have had their detention extended for a two-month period since the indictments were handed down, with the others coming in January, March and May as their trial has proceeded.

The ongoing detention of Ko, a candidate in the 2024 presidential election representing the opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP), which he founded, has been described as political persecution by his party.

The TPP harshly criticized the court and prosecutors Monday night in response to the latest ruling, saying Ko should not continue to be held without evidence and that the judicial system was violating his human rights and focused solely on hunting down political opponents.

"Could this be the concept of the rule of law that the DPP wants to convey to the nation's people?" the TPP said in a statement, referring to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

The TPP accused prosecutors of offering little evidence to justify keeping Ko held incommunicado.

"They simply relied on speculation to say it cannot be ruled out that former Chairman Ko could destroy evidence, collude with others, or flee. It is hard to accept when not even a shred of evidence can be provided," the TPP said.

"It can no longer be described as 'weak evidence' but rather as an abuse of the powers of detention," it said. "It once again proves that judges and prosecutors want to hold former Chairman Ko indefinitely."

The court said Monday that several key witnesses closely connected to the alleged crimes of Ko and Ying have yet to be summoned, without naming them, and therefore the grounds for their continued detention remained.

On the other hand, the court said that witnesses related to Lee's involvement in the case have already been questioned, lowering the risk of collusion.

During the hearing on extending Ko's detention on July 15, Ko himself questioned the prosecutors' contention that he could exert pressure or collude with others if released on bail.

He said he only ran a Facebook fan page, and wondered: "How could I possibly go up against the power of the state?"

Ko also questioned why prosecutorial information always ended up leaked to certain media outlets, including details that were never revealed in court.

While prosecutors may claim there was no leak -- and Ko believes the leaks did not come from them -- this is not how the public sees it, he said on July 15.

Prosecutors are seeking a combined prison sentence of 28 years and 6 months for Ko.

They allege that Ko took bribes from Sheen so that he could obtain an unusually high floor area ratio (FAR) for the Core Pacific City redevelopment project in Songshan District during Ko's stint as Taipei mayor.

The FAR refers to a building's floor space relative to the size of the lot it is built on. Permitting a higher FAR meant Sheen's Core Pacific Group could build bigger structures than previously allowed by law and make more money on the development.

Ko is also charged with illegally using more than NT$60 million of political donations through MuKo Public Relations Marketing Co., Ltd. for personal use.

Ko has maintained that he was wrongfully accused.