Ko Wen-je's appeal is moving forward on the political-donations charges, and his defence has just won access to a large batch of case files it says it never saw — a small procedural win for him, a setback for prosecutors hoping for a quick affirmation.

• Ko, founder of the Taiwan People's Party, was sentenced to 17 years at trial over the Core Pacific City land case and misuse of political donations.
• His lawyers found digital evidence they had never been shown while he was held in custody, and asked the High Court to let them read and copy it.
• The court held a closed-door hearing and the defence walked away with roughly 250 gigabytes of files.
• The lower court found donations were funnelled through a company he controlled, with part of the money ending up in family accounts and invested in funds and stocks.
• Ko denies wrongdoing and wants an acquittal; prosecutors say the original sentence was too soft and want it increased.

Outlook: The High Court will work through the donations case in stages over October, with Ko's own hearing set for mid-November.