According to reports by the United daily and other Taiwanese media on November 11, Democratic Party chairman Ko Wen-je violated the law to grant benefits to Shen Qingjing, president of Taiwan’s Weijing Group, in the case of Jinghua City, prosecutors charged Ko Wen-je with “Embezzlement for profit” and “Taking bribes in violation of his official duties”. Ko Wen-je was allowed to apply for detention on September 5 and KO Wen-je was allowed to apply for an extension on November 1. Today is the “Last day” to extend the detention protest period, and Taiwanese media said KO Wen-je must make a decision today.
Democratic party chairman Ko Wen-je
According to reports, Taiwan’s “Criminal Procedure” regulation, protest period of 10 days, the last day of the holiday can be extended one day; Ko Wen-je on November 1 was ordered by Judge Lu Zhengye to extend his detention for a period of two months from November 5 and ban him from receiving correspondence. The deadline for KO Wen-je to file a complaint was originally set for November 10, but has been extended to today.
The newspaper said Ko Wen-je’s lawyers, Zheng Shenyuan, Xiao Yihong and Lu Zhengyi, had been silent for a while after KO Wen-je was ordered to extend his detention and the investigation was again leaked. On November 5th Ko Wen-je’s appointed lawyer issued a joint statement, “Whether or not to lodge a protest against the decision of the Taipei District Court to extend the detention will be decided after the [ pending ] discussion between the defence and Mr. Ko Wen-je,” the statement said.
The statement was issued during a “Period of hesitation,” but KO Wen-je must decide today whether to file or waive a protest against the decision to extend his detention, the report said.
According to an analysis by the newspaper, if Ko Wen-je filed a protest against the extension of detention, it was in contrast to the failure of co-conspirator Shen Qingjing, Taipei City Councilor Ying Xiaowei and Taipei’s former Vice Mayor Peng Zhensheng to file a protest against the extension of detention, his protest may not be subject to suspension of custody. On the other hand, if Ko Wen-je does not protest, he may further demonstrate the extra-judicial political effect of the prosecution’s “Confession-taking”, with unpredictable consequences, it affects the trend of the corruption case and the breach of trust case of political contribution in Beijing.
Wang Hongwei, deputy secretary-general of the KMT’s legislature, said on November 2 that prosecutors had been investigating for two months and that KO Wen-je, chairman of the Democratic Party of China, was still in custody, no evidence was found that would have killed Ko Wen-je, otherwise the prosecution could have charged Ko Wen-je without further delay. Wang Hongwei said, such handling of cases, let the outside world very doubt, think is a certain degree of political manipulation.