Protestors Gather Outside of Prosecutors Office to Support Ko Wen-je

TaiwanPlus News

Protesters are calling for the release of former Taipei mayor and Taiwan People's Party Chair Ko Wen-je after prosecutors applied to detain the former presidential candidate for two months on corruption charges.

Transcript

00:00It's been a tumultuous weekend in Taiwanese politics after Taiwan People's Party chair

00:05and former presidential candidate Ko Wenzhe was arrested on suspicion of corruption.

00:12Prosecutors are now asking to detain Ko for an extended period as they build their case

00:16against him.

00:17The court is hearing that application today, and if successful, Ko will remain in detention

00:22for two months.

00:23Now, the arrest of any major opposition politician is bound to be controversial, and outside

00:29of the prosecutor's office, dozens of Ko Wenzhe supporters have shown up.

00:33The atmosphere is tense.

01:00Ko is facing a slew of corruption charges related to a land development project during

01:05his time as Taipei mayor.

01:07If the court grants the prosecutors' request, then Ko Wenzhe will be held incommunicado,

01:13which means he will not be able to have contact with anybody except for his lawyer while in

01:18detention.

01:19And that's because prosecutors believe that Ko may try to collude with other suspects

01:23in this case or try to destroy evidence related to it.

01:26All eyes are now on the outcome of this hearing.

01:29Patrick Sun and Leslie Liao in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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