The Taipei District Court was last night expected to rule on the detention of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) amid graft allegations that have sparked minor street protests by his supporters.
Ko was arrested early on Saturday morning after he declined to be further questioned on Friday night and attempted to leave.
After the court rejected Ko’s petition against the prosecutors’ arrest order, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office resumed questioning him and on Saturday evening requested his detention.
Photo: CNA
The detention hearing was ongoing at press time last night.
Ko supporters gathered outside the prosecutors’ office, holding signs while chanting slogans demanding Ko’s release and alleging judicial oppression.
Meanwhile, former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), who had been detained and questioned over an alleged corruption scandal concerning a shopping mall redevelopment project, yesterday felt ill during the inspection of documents in court and was taken to a hospital, the Taipei District Court said.
During the document inspection, Pong said that he was feeling unwell and wanted to return to the waiting room to take some medicine, it said.
However, after taking his medicine he vomited repeatedly and said that he felt out of breath, it said.
The court called an ambulance at 12:06pm, which arrived at 12:15pm and left at 12:39pm for medical attention in police custody, it said.
The Taipei City Hospital said Pong was taken to its Heping branch for examination, and it cannot provide any details about his condition to protect his privacy.
Pong was escorted back to the Taipei District Court at about 4pm yesterday and he was able to walk without any help.
In May, Ko and Pong, who was deputy mayor during Ko’s second term from 2018 to 2022, were named as suspects in an investigation regarding alleged corruption in the Core Pacific City redevelopment project.
In 2020, the Taipei Department of Urban Development rejected Core Pacific Group’s (威京集團) proposal to increase the floor area ratio from 560 percent to 840 percent.
However, the proposal was approved on Sept. 9, 2021, allegedly following several meetings held by Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), of which Ko and Pong allegedly attended three.
Ying, Core Pacific Group chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Ying’s assistant Wu Shun-min (吳順民) were detained on Friday last week and held incommunicado.
After searching the offices and homes of Ko and Pong on Friday, prosecutors questioned them on Friday and Saturday, and on late Saturday filed a request with the Taipei District Court to detain them.
Separately, TPP Secretary-General Chou Yu-hsiu (周榆修) yesterday told a news conference at the TPP’s headquarters that in the past few days, the party’s central committee and emergency response team have been showing their full support for Ko.
The state apparatus is using every means to persecute and suppress them, he added.
TPP caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said prosecutors should ensure the confidentiality of the investigation.
However, some online news media have reported Ko’s interrogation in detail, which is aimed at misleading the public to believe that Ko is involved in corruption, Huang said.
The prosecutors interrogated Ko for the “A” case, but asked questions about “B” and “C” cases, and they searched the TPP headquarters for documents unrelated to the Core Pacific City case, he said, adding that they are trying every means to convict Ko.
The prosecutors’ office yesterday said that some media reports were written by reporters who did not confirm the facts with it and it would not comment on them.
As for the TPP’s claim that prosecutors asked questions unrelated to the case, the office said there is a misunderstanding aimed at misleading the public.
Criminal investigations are quite complex, and prosecutors can make decisions on how to conduct interrogations based on the evidence they have collected, it said.
The office also rejected the TPP’s claim that Ko was interrogated for too long until he was exhausted.
It said that prosecutors had asked Ko if he needed to rest when he was escorted from the Agency Against Corruption (AAC) to the office early on Saturday.
Prosecutors also informed Ko that he can rest before continuing the interrogation, it said.
The TPP said that Ko had been interrogated for 19 hours straight at the AAC and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Additional reporting by AP
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