Taiwan High Court allows Ko Wen-je's defense to reproduce mobile phone data

The Taiwan High Court has granted a request by defense attorney Cheng Shen-yuan to reproduce data from three mobile phones seized in the legal cases involving Ko Wen-je. The defense argued that previous forensic examinations focused primarily on conversations with specific co-defendants, such as Shen Ching-ching, and failed to include communications with members of the Taipei City Government, the Taiwan People's Party, or his campaign team.

Attorney Cheng asserted that these missing communications and screenshots could contain evidence favorable to Ko's defense. The court ruled that the defense has a legal right to inspect and reproduce evidence during trial, provided the information is not used for improper purposes. While the request was granted, the court issued a strict warning prohibiting the distribution, public broadcasting, or unauthorized use of the data, and forbade any further copying for purposes outside the litigation.

Ko Wen-je was previously sentenced to 17 years in prison by a district court for bribery and breach of trust related to the Jinghua City and political donation cases. He is currently appealing the verdict, maintaining that his political donations were legitimate and denying all charges of bribery and embezzlement. The High Court is currently reviewing the political donation aspect of the case, with a summons for Ko scheduled for November 16.