Taipei District Court Rules on Cases Including Jinghua City, Emphasizing Focus on Cases, Not Interference with Trials

The Taipei District Court today released the full text of its judgment. In the sentencing section, it mentioned that Ko Wen-je, who was once the chairman of a major opposition party in Taiwan and represented the Taiwan People's Party in the 2024 presidential and vice-presidential elections, is a well-known political figure. In his participation in political elections and mastery of policy directions, he must deeply understand the importance of democratic rule of law.

The Taipei District Court pointed out that the existence of the judiciary is to settle all disputes in Taiwan. Any dispute should be concluded after the judiciary makes a judgment according to law, to prevent private remedies or political disturbances. This shows that whether the judicial system can continue to operate smoothly is the foundation of democratic rule of law.

According to the judgment, Article 80 of the Constitution clearly states that "Judges shall be above partisanship and shall, in accordance with law, hold trials independently, free from any interference." This indicates that judicial independence is the core of the judicial system. If judicial independence is eroded, not only will the judicial system collapse, rendering its function of settling disputes useless, but it will also lead to the complete destruction of democratic rule of law.

Therefore, before, during, and after a case is pending in court, even if there is emotional dissatisfaction with the proceedings or conclusions, both the parties involved and interested parties should respect the constitutional mandate to defend judicial independence. During the trial, the focus should be on the factual determination and legal application, rather than using methods outside the court's scope of factual and legal interpretation to put undue pressure on the court, intending to prevent the court from making judgments based on its conviction and applying the law, thereby interfering with the court's independent trial space.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted Ko Wen-je, Weichuan Group Chairman Shen Ching-ching, Kuomintang Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei, and 8 others on December 26, 2024, for offenses including receiving bribes in violation of duties, profiteering, embezzlement of public welfare, and breach of trust under the Anti-Corruption Act.

According to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office's indictment, the entire case is divided into four major sections: the "Jinghua City land illegal volume bonus case," the "political donation public welfare embezzlement case," the "embezzlement of Zhongwang Foundation funds to pay campaign staff salaries breach of trust case," and the "Ko Wen-je political donation special account false reporting case."

The Taipei District Court announced its first-instance verdict on March 26. For Ko Wen-je, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for receiving bribes in violation of duties under the Anti-Corruption Act, and deprived of civil rights for 6 years; for embezzlement of public welfare, he was sentenced to 2 years and 3 years and 6 months respectively; for joint breach of trust, he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison. The four charges were combined for a total of 17 years in prison and deprivation of civil rights for 6 years. (Editor: Kuan Chung-wei) 1150410