TPP Calls for Protest to ‘Seek Justice’ for Former Chairman Ko

Taipei: The opposition Taiwan People's Party (TPP) has issued a call for supporters to rally in Taipei on Sunday in protest against the guilty verdict imposed on its former chairman Ko Wen-je in a corruption case that earned him a 17-year prison sentence. According to Focus Taiwan, the party expressed in a Facebook post on Friday that supporters were "angry and unable to accept" the verdict handed down Thursday. Incumbent TPP Chairman Huang Kuo-chang launched a nationwide mobilization of protesters in response. The TPP urged its followers not to "allow prosecutors and investigators to continue their abuse of power and unlawful actions to victimize political opponents in tandem with those in power," announcing that the rally would take place Sunday at 2 p.m. on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office. The opposition party accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of undermining judicial independence, alleging the system had become a political tool. The TPP also pledged to push for judicial reform and to "defend Ko's innocence." Huang first proposed the rally on Thursday, shortly after the Taipei District Court handed down a guilty verdict against Ko on corruption and bribery charges, sentencing him to 17 years in prison. Huang described the verdict as a "political judgment" and urged supporters to "seek justice," calling on President Lai Ching-te to address concerns over judicial independence. Ko, a former Taipei mayor and founder of the TPP, was convicted of bribery and other corruption-related offenses linked to the Core Pacific City development project and three additional cases. Despite the verdict, Ko had pleaded not guilty, and the case, which concluded in the district court Thursday, can still be appealed. On Saturday, the legislative caucus of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) voiced support for the planned rally, emphasizing that the judiciary "must not become a tool for political reckoning" and warning against selective enforcement of the law to target opposition figures . The party caucus emphasized on Facebook that the issue transcends any single political party, focusing on the broader concern of preventing Taiwan from "sliding into the abyss of authoritarianism."