In the ongoing Core Pacific City corruption case, lawyers representing former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) today questioned whether former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) was coerced into making a guilty plea.
The lawyers found issue with Pong’s recorded confession, which took place last year on Sept. 4, believing that the full interrogation was not recorded due to a two-hour gap in the video, after which Pong pled guilty.
Ko’s lawyers questioned what occurred during these two hours and whether prosecutors forced Pong to accuse Ko of having committed a crime.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Political pundit Grace Woo (吳靜怡) said that Pong’s confession has been deemed legitimate by both prosecutors and investigators, so there is no need to continuously fabricate claims that it was an illegal interrogation.
The two-hour gap in the recordings is because it was dinnertime at the prison Pong was held at, and he had to eat and take his medication.
Early last month, Pong’s wife died after falling from a building in Kaohsiung, leading to him reportedly recanting his confession and asserting his innocence.
Separately, Taipei prosecutors have indicted former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) and 16 others for accepting bribes and other improper benefits while in office, contravening the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法).
Chen would later be transferred to the Taipei District Court where a judge is to determine whether he would be required to stay detained.
Chen, who served in the legislature from 2012 to 2020, is suspected of accepting improper benefits or bribes from United Logistics International Co, a Taiwanese firm based in Keelung, during his second term of office from 2016 to 2020.
Chen is also suspected of using his position as lawmaker to propose legislation that would benefit the company and protect its operations, as well as inflating his aide fees.
On June 3, Chen was questioned and detained after investigators carried out raids at 14 locations linked to Chen and others connected to the allegations.
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