Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) broke down in tears multiple times yesterday as he spoke about judicial probes that were “politically motivated” and of inhumane treatment during his detention, at a court hearing on his appeal for bail.
The charges against Ko in connection with Core Pacific City development project are merely an attempt to "take him down" and implicated uninvolved individuals, resulting in wrongful detentions, the former mayor told the Taiwan Taipei District Court.
Ko, who has been in incommunicado detention at Taipei Detention Center for over a year, said that he lives in a cell with no sunlight, where he "sleeps by a foul-smelling toilet" that forces him to wear a mask even while sleeping.
Photo: Liu Hsin-te, Taipei Times
The hearing was held to review the requests filed by Ko and Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇), who was also indicted on bribery in the same case, seeking their release when their extended detention period ends on Oct. 1.
Ko and Ying were among 11 people indicted in December last year over the project in which Core Pacific Group Chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) is alleged to have bribed Ko for favorable treatment during his tenure as mayor.
The investigation into the project started amid suspicion about the sharp increase in the floor area ratio — the total floor space of a building divided by the size of the land it sits on — from 560 percent to 840 percent.
Ko was charged on four counts, including allegedly receiving a NT$15 million (US$489,000) bribe from Sheen — who was granted bail and released in July — for which prosecutors are seeking a total prison term of 28 years and six months.
During the court hearing, Ko said prosecutors cited the alleged bribe as the main reason for his detention, but questioned what evidence they had to support the allegation after a year of him being in custody.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
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A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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