The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday called for its supporters to protest the Taipei District Court’s “politically motivated” decision to keep former party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in detention, after the High Court on Thursday night revoked its earlier bail decision.
Acting TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said that the party calls on its supporters nationwide to meet at Taipei’s Freedom Square at 2pm on Saturday next week — Judicial Day — to call for Ko’s release and an independent judicial process.
Huang accused the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) of “green authoritarianism” and said that the party is undermining Taiwan’s judicial freedom by using the court as a political tool.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The court’s rulings are contradictory, the prosecutors are biased, and the judge faced political pressure to keep Ko and his codefendants detained, Huang said, accusing the DPP of acting similarly to the Chinese Communist Party’s Red Guards.
Judicial independence is the cornerstone of a democratic society and it is equal for all, regardless of politics, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference yesterday.
The TPP applies a double standard toward the court process, only being in favor when it likes the outcome, Wu added.
When the court originally ruled in favor of bail, TPP officials thanked the judge, but now that it has been revoked, the same officials seek to undermine the ruling, he said.
The TPP should have the same approach as the DPP and allow the courts to work independently, free of political pressure, Wu added.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) called for a free and independent judicial process in response to the court’s ruling.
The KMT position remains that justice must be fair and honest, KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu said.
The court’s decision to revoke bail without proper explanation undermines the public’s trust in the process, Yang said.
The case against Ko could have wider ramifications, KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said, adding that it could prevent future collaboration between the DPP and TPP.
Given the support for Ko and the TPP, the DPP should remain concerned about the political impact of the case, Lee added.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS