Ko Wen-je's Lawyers Opt Not To Protest Detention, Supporters Rally in Solidarity

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan People's Party founder Ko Wen-je's lawyers have announced they will not protest his detention amid a corruption investigation. Ko is set to be held in custody for two months in an ongoing case his supporters believe is political persecution.

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00:00Taiwan's third-largest party, the TPP, has kicked off what it says will be nationwide

00:05rallies in solidarity with its leader, Kuo Wenzhe.

00:08The former Taipei mayor has been detained as part of a graft probe, but his supporters

00:12say the investigation is politically motivated.

00:15Joyce Sun joins us now live from New Taipei.

00:18Joyce, it seems the party is sticking by Kud no matter what.

00:23Hey Eric, that's right.

00:26The TPP is urging its supporters to not stay silent and speak up against what they believe

00:32to be unfair treatment of their leader.

00:34Now, I'm outside the detention center where Kuo Wenzhe is being held with access only

00:40to his lawyers.

00:41And this is the heart of growing protests among his supporters, claiming that the corruption

00:47case against him is a political witch hunt.

00:50The TPP caucus whip, Huang Guochang, was making the rounds this morning, taking interviews

00:55on the radio and also outside the legislature to push their view that President Lai Ching-teh's

01:02government is misusing the law and the media to suppress political opponents.

01:07Now, they've launched, as you mentioned, Eric, what they hope to be nationwide rallies, starting

01:12with one in the capital just hours ago on Sunday night.

01:16Now, I was there and people came out in droves.

01:25Thousands of TPP supporters lit up the streets outside Taiwan's legislature as they gathered

01:30in solidarity with their leader, Kuo Wenzhe.

01:39The chair of the fledgling Taiwan People's Party and former Taipei mayor is being held

01:44in detention after being accused of corruption related to a real estate project from when

01:49he was mayor.

01:51The investigation led to Kuo's residence and office being searched two weeks ago.

01:56He was first detained then, but soon ordered released without bail by a district court.

02:01That ruling has since been overturned.

02:04Kuo's supporters are convinced he's being targeted by the ruling Democratic Progressive

02:09Party, or DPP, for raising an influential third party voice.

02:14Kuo ran a competitive campaign for president this January.

02:18He came in third, but broke Taiwan's traditional two-party system between the ruling DPP and

02:24opposition Kuomintang, or KMT.

02:40The protests were heavy with references to Taiwan's authoritarian era known as white

02:45terror, but here using the DPP's color green instead.

03:08One of the issues they're pointing to is this video showing Kuo in handcuffs being escorted

03:14to the detention center.

03:16Though several Taiwanese politicians have been wrapped up in corruption scandals before,

03:21rarely are they pictured in cuffs.

03:24In another recent high-profile case against ruling DPP heavyweight Zeng Wenzhen, which

03:30also resulted in him being detained for graft allegations, Zeng was arrested in a restricted

03:36court area, meaning only this shot of the police van with its windows blocked, which

03:42he was sent away in, made it to public view.

03:46Kuo's party is not taking the case against their leader quietly, insisting the legitimacy

03:51of Taiwan's justice system is on the line.

03:54They plan to call for more rallies across the country, so this won't be the last time

03:59their supporters will take to the streets.

04:05Just this morning, Kuo's lawyers announced that they will not appeal his detention, which

04:10means that Kuo will remain in custody here for two months.

04:14That's the legal standard here in Taiwan as investigations continue.

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