Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je has been detained again, just a week after being released on bail over corruption charges. Prosecutors argued he could flee, destroy evidence or collude with others, leading the court to reverse its earlier bail decision. Ko's team is calling this political persecution and is preparing to appeal.
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00:00Now, we turn to former Taipei Mayor Ko Eun-seo who has been detained again just one week
00:05after being released on bail over corruption charges.
00:08Prosecutors say they're concerned that he and three other bail defendants could collude
00:12with each other online.
00:14Tiffany Wong joins us live from outside the detention center where Ke is being held.
00:18Tiffany, what does this mean for Ke's case?
00:23Well, it seems like the Taipei District Court is having a hard time deciding what exactly
00:29to do with former Taipei Mayor Ko Eun-seo and three other defendants who had been released
00:35on bail as this case proceeds.
00:38They were, they now have gone back on their previous judgment that these four defendants
00:43would not interfere with the investigation and now they're agreeing with prosecutors
00:47that they could in fact pose a flight risk, might possibly tamper with evidence or even
00:52try to collude with others.
00:54And so now they've sent them back to detention.
00:57They had their third bail hearing on Thursday, it lasted five hours.
01:02And Ko asked the court to tell him who exactly, asked prosecutors to tell him, give him a
01:08list of who exactly he should not contact while out on bail.
01:13And he says that the prosecutors are targeting him.
01:16And his party, the Taiwan People's Party, has also agreed that prosecutors are bullying
01:22him.
01:23Taiwan called out the court for being allegedly influenced by the president, Lai Ching-teh,
01:28who leads the Democratic Progressive Party.
01:30And now they've called for a nationwide protest on January 11th, which is Justices Day.
01:36Who in Taiwan thinks Ko will run away from the Republic of China?
01:41Are you out of your mind?
01:43Ko had already been held incommunicado for four months since September.
02:02And that was when prosecutors were building up their case, investigating his phone records,
02:07his computer records, his financial records.
02:10And they came out with a 190-page indictment against him and officially charged him with
02:16acts of corruption, including accepting bribes and misusing political funds regarding alleged
02:23dealings with a real estate case while he was mayor, as well as his campaign funds while
02:29he was running for president last year.
02:32Now prosecutors immediately appealed right after he was released on a bail of one million
02:38U.S. dollars.
02:39And the high court did revoke the court's decision at that time.
02:43They raised his bail to two million dollars and required him to wear an ankle monitor.
02:48But now with this latest decision, we find Ko back in detention.
02:53And Ko's team is ready to appeal, which they must do within 10 days, otherwise they may
02:58not see him for the next few months.