TAIPEI—A Taiwanese court on Monday ordered the release of a former Taipei mayor and presidential candidate arrested over the weekend as part of a graft probe, citing insufficient evidence to justify his detention.
Ko Wen-je, leader of the Taiwan People’s Party, ran as a third-party candidate in January’s presidential election, winning about a quarter of the vote.
But he was arrested Saturday over his alleged role in a property development scandal that occurred when he was mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022.
The Taipei district court ruled Monday that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to continue detaining Ko, saying “there is still room for other reasonable explanations for the evidence presented by prosecutors.”
“The level of a ‘high possibility of committing the crime’ is not reached,” the court said in a statement after Ko was released.
“It cannot be concluded that the defendant… knowingly violated the law.”
After his release, Ko told reporters outside the court there was “no evidence” of his involvement in the property scandal.
Ko has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing in that case, but he and his party have acknowledged that campaign funds used during his presidential run were misreported — a separate issue that has emerged in recent weeks.
He apologised to his followers last week over this revelation, announcing Thursday he was taking a three-month personal leave from the party’s leadership role.
During the January election, TPP garnered eight seats in Taiwan’s fractious parliament, securing it a kingmaker status in the legislature.
Neither the ruling Democratic Progressive Party nor Kuomintang, Taiwan’s largest opposition group, won enough seats for a clear majority.
Earlier this year, TPP and KMT passed controversial reforms that sought to expand the parliament’s powers, with proponents arguing it was needed to curb corruption.
The reforms — opposed by DPP — are currently being reviewed by Taiwan’s constitutional court.
