Former Taipei mayor and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je has been released on bail following a hearing that lasted until the early hours of Friday morning. After being detained for four months, Ko was charged Thursday with taking bribes during his time as Taipei mayor.
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00:00Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je has been released on bail after a hearing that
00:05lasted until the early hours of Friday morning. The one-time presidential
00:10hopeful was charged with bribery and mishandling political funds on Thursday
00:15and is facing 28 and a half years in jail. Tiffany Wong is live for us at the
00:21Taipei District Court. Tiffany, what was the reaction like when Ko was let out?
00:28Former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je is back at home after four months held incommunicado
00:34and he walked out of the courthouse today smiling as he heard cheers from
00:39his supporters for the first time in months. He was granted that 915,000 US
00:45dollar bail today and he went home and broke down as he addressed his
00:52supporters for the first time thanking them for their presence over the past
00:56few months and still maintaining his innocence. Here, let's listen to what he had to say.
01:21His supporters and party members fought tirelessly last night waiting
01:26until 3 a.m. when the court finally granted, gave him that bail offer. Now
01:33they have still maintained his innocence and now the court has said that they
01:38have not found any reason for prosecutors to continue holding them as
01:42they investigate as they have been for the past few months. Now Ko was happy to
01:48finally see his supporters after so long but it's possible that he will try to
01:53keep a low profile for the rest of the trial as the rest of the country is
01:57gripped by this corruption scandal.