The Taipei District Court yesterday ordered that former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and his three codefendants be returned to detention, after the High Court revoked a bail ruling from the lower court for the second time.
Ko, who has been indicted on corruption and other charges, was last week granted bail of NT$30 million (US$912,742) by the Taipei District Court.
However, the High Court on Sunday overruled the decision, citing concerns about witness tampering and collusion.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Later on Sunday, the Taipei District Court increased Ko’s bail to NT$70 million with the condition that he wear an ankle monitor, but the High Court on Wednesday evening again ordered a retrial.
The court last night also ruled that Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), Core Pacific Group founder Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) and Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), finance chief of Ko’s campaign for last year’s presidential election, are to be detained again pending trial.
The bail amounts do not stop Ko and his codefendants from colluding with each other or with witnesses, the High Court said, highlighting seven alleged instances of tampering by Ko and the other defendants.
Their statements are not consistent with each other’s or that of other witnesses, leaving space for collusion, the High Court said, adding that Lee had told his sister to shred relevant documents, and Ying had deleted call records between herself and her codefendants.
The High Court also said the bail ruling was overly vague, and the court’s no-contact order did not have a clear way of being enforced.
It also cited Ko’s “influence” as a concern.
Meanwhile, TPP Acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday said that the High Court’s decision to revoke bail for a second time had caused an “uproar in society.”
Huang also said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had been involved in the court’s decisionmaking.
Huang, named acting chairman of the TPP after Ko stepped down as its leader on Wednesday, told reporters that the court’s actions “fully demonstrated” that “the DPP will not give up until Ko Wen-je is detained.”
“I believe that Ko Wen-je and his legal team will defend his rights until the last moment,” Huang said.
“The first time the High Court revoked the bail ruling, the reason given was that Ko Wen-je was a flight risk,” Huang said. “The second time, the court made a complete 180-degree turn and changed the reason to a risk of collusion of evidence.”
“Is this judicial process really the justice that Taiwanese want?” he asked.
Talking to reporters yesterday morning, TPP Secretary-General Vincent Chou (周榆修) said that 3,000 people had applied to join the party since Wednesday afternoon, when the news of Ko’s resignation as the party’s chairman was announced.
The secretary-general said those new members would not be able to participate in the election of the next formal TPP leader, as the party’s rules require membership for at least four months before being eligible to vote in leadership contests.
Ko on Wednesday expressed hope that a new TPP chairperson would be formally elected before next month, Chou said.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
RSS