The opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) has characterized the case involving former chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) as "political prosecution," and therefore there would be no expulsion or disciplinary action against the party's founder, TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said today.
Ko was sentenced to 17 years in prison by the Taipei District Court yesterday for multiple corruption offenses in the Core Pacific City (京華城) case and three other cases.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
At a news conference today, Huang was asked whether Ko would withdraw from the party, as Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安) did after being sentenced to seven years and four months in prison on corruption charges by a district court in July 2024, or face disciplinary action.
Kao's conviction was later overturned by the High Court in December last year following an appeal.
Huang said the party has made its position clear, which is that Ko's case constitutes political targeting and persecution by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government.
"Therefore, there is, of course, no issue of expulsion from the party or internal disciplinary action," he said.
Huang added that party disciplinary measures are meant to address contraventions of internal integrity rules and not intended to deal with members who are subject to political persecution or judicial targeting.
In its ruling yesterday, the court said Ko was found to have accepted NT$2.1 million (US$65,735) in bribes in 2020 when he was Taipei mayor through several proxies of Core Pacific Group chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) in exchange for favorable treatment, including additional floor area for the Core Pacific City redevelopment project.
Ko described the case as "a frame-up from beginning to end" at a press event later that day.
Huang today said he has issued a nationwide mobilization order, calling on supporters to take to Ketagalan Boulevard on Sunday afternoon to "demand justice — not only for Ko Wen-je, but for the fairness and justice that Taiwan's judicial system should uphold."
In response to the planned rally, DPP caucus chief executive Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said the party respects judicial rulings as well as the public's constitutional right to assembly and demonstration.
He urged all sectors of society to view the matter rationally and called on the TPP to uphold the bottom line of democracy and rule of law, warning that excessive political rhetoric would not help the ruling in Ko's case.
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