Ko Wenje’s detention has been extended by two months

‘REGRETE AND ANGER’:
A court said bail, liability or residential restrictions were not feasible, while the TPP complained of an ‘abuse of authority’ by prosecutors

The Taipei District Court yesterday agreed to extend the detention of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who is suspected of taking bribes from real estate developers during his time as Taipei mayor.

The ruling extending Ko’s detention and holding him incommunicado – which is subject to appeal – was made out of fear of possible collusion that would undermine the investigation, the court said.

Substantial evidence points to Ko’s serious involvement in a suspected violation of the Anti-Corruption Law (貪污治罪條例), which carries a minimum sentence of five years, the court said.

Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

There are indications that Ko’s alleged accomplices are still at large and that further investigation is needed to clarify other details, the report said.

“After balancing the balance between the public interest and the rights of the suspect, and taking into account proportionality, it was determined that alternatives such as bail, liability or residential restrictions are not feasible, making detention necessary,” the report said.

Prosecutors allege Ko took bribes from real estate developers and used his supervisory role to benefit others during his second term as Taipei mayor from 2018 to 2022.

Ko has been detained and held incommunicado since September 5. Prosecutors sought to extend his detention for two months on October 25.

Prosecutors can petition a court to detain and detain suspects incommunicado, under certain conditions, for up to two months (up to four months) while an investigation is conducted.

The extension of Ko’s detention came as no surprise as the Taipei District Court earlier this week approved requests from prosecutors to extend the detention of other key suspects in the case, including Core Pacific Group (威京集團) chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京). ) and Taipei Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇).

Prosecutors have accused Sheen of distributing NT$47.4 million (US$1.48 million) in bribes to convince city government officials to increase the floor area ratio – the amount of floor space a developer can build on a given plot of land. increase above the limit for a project. Sheen was involved.

Sheen was redeveloping a site previously occupied by the Core Pacific City shopping center in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山). An increase in the ratio would mean that more space could be sold.

It is believed that Ying was an intermediary between Sheen and high-ranking officials, including Ko and then Taipei Vice Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲), whom the court also detained for a second two-month period.

The TPP expressed “regret and anger” over the court ruling in a press release.

The Taipei Public Prosecution Service abused its authority by raiding the party’s offices and holding Ko in pre-trial detention, the TPP said.

Prosecutors have no evidence against Ko, but they fished and leaked information to the media to try him in the court of public opinion, the report said, adding that the case was “blatantly motivated by politics.”

The investigation has yielded no results over the past two months, despite Ko’s cooperation in not challenging his pre-trial detention and pleading for the legal system to reveal the truth about the charges against him, the report said.

Most of the people interviewed had nothing to do with the Core Pacific City project and the investigation does not follow any observable logic, the report said.

The TPP said it “supports the legal defense team in filing an appeal on behalf of Ko to restore his freedom” as the judiciary serves the interests of the Democratic Progressive Party.