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.