TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan People’s Party Chair Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) on Wednesday denied that his party’s proposed amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure was designed to benefit former TPP Chair Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).

The TPP caucus has proposed removing “collusion” as a legal justification for pretrial detention, arguing detentions should only be allowed when physical evidence shows a risk of flight or destruction of evidence — and when no alternative measures are available, per Tai Sounds. Ko is currently detained to prevent him from colluding with co-defendants in a corruption case related to the floor area ratio of the Core Pacific City redevelopment project.

Huang emphasized the proposal was not intended to help Ko, saying it aims to prevent the Democratic Progressive Party from abusing detention powers for political purposes. He noted that several current DPP leaders, including President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Meng-an (潘孟安), and Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), had previously supported a similar stance on pretrial detention.

While Huang did not mention it directly, the DPP proposed a similar amendment in 2011 after the 2008 detention of former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), arguing “collusion” should be removed as a reason for pretrial detention, per PTS.

DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) criticized the TPP’s proposal, saying it would undermine Taiwan’s criminal investigation system and significantly benefit suspects in serious crimes, per UDN. DPP Legislative Caucus Secretary-General Wu Szu-yao (吳思瑤) echoed the criticism, calling the amendment “custom-made” to assist Ko.

Meanwhile, Ko’s defense attorneys raised concerns over prosecutorial conduct, per ETtoday. When asked why Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), was listed as a witness but her testimony was not included in the evidence, prosecutors said her statements pertain to a separate ongoing investigation and claimed they are not authorized to disclose them.

Defense attorney Cheng Shen-yuan (鄭深元) criticized prosecutors for citing potential collusion between Ko and his wife as justification for Ko’s continued detention while withholding her testimony for eight months. He argued this raises the possibility they may be attempting to build a separate case against her as leverage.

Fellow defense attorney Lu Cheng-i (陸正義) added that under Taiwan’s legal procedures, prosecutors are required to disclose relevant evidence during discovery and have no discretion to withhold it.