Lawyers representing former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), currently detained on charges of bribery and corruption involving the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project, yesterday filed an appeal against the detention that was handed down in his previous bail hearing.
The petition was sent to the High Court, which is to convene a three-member bench to review the petition and assess the arguments of each side.
The court is to hand down its decision today on whether to grant or deny a bail hearing, court officials said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Ko is one of four defendants to file an appeal to be released on bail.
Lawyers representing Core Pacific Group (威京集團) founder Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京), Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), the finance chief of Ko’s presidential campaign last year, also filed applications for bail.
If High Court judges decide to grant the appeal request, then a separate bail hearing would take place at the Taipei District Court next week, court officials said.
Ko’s lawyers in their petition said that there is no longer a need to hold him in detention, as the investigation by Taipei prosecutors had been completed preceding the formal indictment.
They said that Ko’s personal aide, Hsu Chih-yu (許芷瑜), who allegedly served as a financial officer handling political donations from businesspeople and political figures during Ko’s second term as mayor from 2018 to 2022, was not an accomplice, but only a witness in the case.
An international arrest notice had been issued for Hsu, who left Taiwan in late August last year following the launch of the investigation and the search of Ko’s residence and Taiwan People’s Party offices.
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