Ko Wen-je's digital monitoring to switch to electronic bracelet

Taipei, July 27 (CNA) The Taiwan High Court ruled Monday that former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) will switch from an electronic ankle monitor to an electronic bracelet beginning Aug. 5.

The court said although it found little evidence Ko poses a flight risk, continued electronic monitoring remains necessary.

The ruling can be appealed.

Ko, the founder of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), recently asked the court to remove or modify the monitoring requirement. He argued that, as the party's founding chairperson, he has political responsibilities and would not abandon his seriously ill mother, political partners or supporters by fleeing Taiwan.

Ko also said he frequently needs to travel near coastal areas and outlying islands for political activities, causing the ankle monitor to trigger alarms. In addition, he argued that regularly reporting his location, monitoring the device's battery level and maintaining contact with the electronic monitoring center and the court were burdensome and damaging to his character.

Ko further noted that he has already posted NT$70 million (US$2.16 million) in bail and remains subject to travel and departure restrictions, which he argued are sufficient to ensure he will not flee.

The High Court found that between Sept. 15, 2025, and June 16, 2026, Ko's monitoring device generated 3,803 level-three alerts -- the highest alert category -- but only 53 occurred near coastal areas. Most of the remaining alerts resulted from the device being offline for more than 30 minutes or from equipment malfunctions.

The court therefore concluded that the monitoring records did not indicate any attempt by Ko to flee.

It added that an electronic bracelet provides monitoring capabilities comparable to those of an ankle monitor while being lighter and less physically burdensome. The court also noted that because about 98 percent of previous alerts were related to technical issues, replacing the device could help reduce the number of false alarms, ease the workload on police officers responsible for verifying alerts and improve the efficiency of police deployments.

Ko, a former surgeon, served as Taipei mayor from 2014 to 2022. He founded the TPP during his second term and ran for president in 2024.

He became a suspect later that year in a corruption investigation involving the city's Core Pacific City redevelopment project and was indicted in September.

On March 26, 2026, Ko was sentenced to 17 years in prison after being convicted on corruption charges. The verdict has been appealed. The TPP and some members of the opposition Kuomintang have criticized the ruling as politically motivated, while the ruling Democratic Progressive Party has declined to comment, citing respect for judicial independence.