Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je is preparing to appeal the resumption of his detention just one week after being released on bail. The former presidential candidate has been indicted on corruption charges and prosecutors say he could try to collude with other defendants in the case. Ko and his Taiwan People's Party are calling out prosecutors and the court, accusing them of bullying.
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00:00Former Taipei Mayor Koh Wen-ja is back in detention just a week after being released
00:05on bail for corruption charges.
00:08Prosecutors say that he and other defendants could try to collude with each other electronically.
00:14The Taipei District Court has now gone back on their previous judgment that Koh and others
00:18would not interfere in the investigation while out on bail, agreeing with prosecutors that
00:23they do present a flight risk and could try to destroy evidence or even collude with each
00:27other.
00:28They are sending him back to detention incommunicado.
00:31During his third bail hearing that lasted five hours on Thursday, Koh asked prosecutors
00:36for a list of people he should not contact while out on bail and said that prosecutors
00:41were targeting him.
00:42The Taiwan People's Party, which is the third-force opposition party that Koh founded, said Koh
00:47was being bullied by prosecutors and that the court was being influenced by President
00:51Lai Ching-ta, who leads the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
00:54They've now called for a nationwide protest on Justices Day, which is January 11th.
01:17Koh had already been held incommunicado since September, when prosecutors were given time
01:21to investigate, going through his phone records and computer files and compiling a 190-page
01:27indictment.
01:28He was released only last week on a bail of nearly US$1 million after being charged with
01:34corruption, including accepting bribes and embezzling political funds related to his
01:39alleged involvement in a real estate deal when he was mayor and for mishandling political
01:43funds during his run for president last year.
01:47Prosecutors appealed immediately after and the high court revoked the lower court's decision,
01:52hiking his bail to US$2 million and requiring him to wear an ankle monitor.
01:57Koh's team is ready to appeal and they must do so within 10 days, otherwise they may not
02:02see Koh for several months.
02:04Justin Wu and Tiffany Wong at the Taipei Detention Center for Taiwan Plus.