TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) posted NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail on Monday morning and was released by the Taipei District Court after a year of incommunicado detention, per CNA.
Ko faces trial for multiple corruption charges, ranging from the Core Pacific City development case during his time as mayor to embezzling political donations for his 2024 presidential campaign.
After Ko’s wife, Chen Pei-chi (陳佩琪), delivered the final portion of his bail, the court confirmed at 10:50 a.m. that it had received the full amount and, a few minutes later, deployed a van to pick him up from the detention center and bring him to the courthouse to be fitted with an electronic ankle monitor.
His wife also provided a clean set of clothes, which he changed into before leaving the courtroom at 2:30 p.m. Ko’s first move was to take a car to his mother’s home in Hsinchu. Once there, he performed rituals such as stepping over a charcoal fire and breaking a tile with his foot to ward off bad luck, per UDN.
The court said that although Ko is restricted to living at his Taipei residence for eight months, this would not limit his freedom of movement, as he is only required to upload a selfie from that residence each evening between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. using a court-assigned mobile phone.
According to the court, Ko is also banned from traveling abroad for eight months, barred from travel by sea, and prohibited from contacting, harassing, or intimidating any co-defendants or witnesses in pending cases.
Ko was the last defendant to be released from detention in the Core Pacific City case, after Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) posted NT$30 million bail on Friday.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, investigating the Core Pacific City case and the political donations case, seeks a total sentence of 28 years and six months in prison for Ko.
