Ko Wen-je Stands Trial

TaiwanPlus News

Former presidential candidate Ko Wen-je takes the stand for the first time in a high-profile corruption case. Prosecutors are asking for 28 and a half years.

Transcript

00:00Former presidential candidate Ko Wenzhe is taking the stand for the first time in a high-profile corruption case.

00:06A reporter, Leslie Liao, is at the Taipei District Court where that trial is underway.

00:11Leslie, what exactly is Ko on trial for?

00:16Well, Eric, as you said, Ko is on trial for corruption.

00:20Prosecutors say that he was involved in shady dealings in a real estate development project when he was Taipei mayor.

00:27And he was accused of misusing campaign funds when he ran for president last year.

00:33In total, prosecutors want to put Ko away for 28 and a half years, nearly three decades.

00:39Hearings have been ongoing since Thursday morning, but because this is Ko's first time taking the stand in this trial,

00:46his supporters are outside the courtroom calling this case political persecution.

00:52I'm sorry, not the courtroom, but outside of the courthouse.

00:55Ko has been held incommunicado for almost 200 days now.

01:00He's bounced in and out of the system as he fought detention, and he was let out briefly to attend his father's funeral.

01:07But for the most part, he's been held since September.

01:10On Wednesday, Taiwan's government watchdog, the Kontrorian, released investigation findings

01:16that said Ko indeed violated the Political Donations Act.

01:21Leslie, what did the Kontrorian's findings say?

01:28So the Kontrorian went through Ko's donation records from May 2023 to February 2024,

01:35and it found around 20,000 unlawful transactions.

01:40It has since fined Ko over 100,000 U.S. dollars and seized 1.7 million in assets.

01:47Now, in response, the Taiwan People's Party, a political party that Ko founded,

01:52said that the timing of the Kontrorian's investigation findings release

01:57is a politically calculated move meant to make Ko look bad just before he takes the stand in this trial.

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