2023-12-28 21:00:00
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s Special Investigation Department has been indicting members of the Diet one following another over “politics and money.” Over the past four years, the number has increased to nine, eight of whom belonged to the Liberal Democratic Party. Some members have held important positions such as the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Mizuo Kakizawa (52), a member of the House of Representatives who was arrested on the 28th, became the Deputy Minister of Justice in the Kishida Cabinet. The Special Investigation Department is currently investigating a slush fund scandal involving a political funding party run by a faction of the Liberal Democratic Party. There is a possibility that more members may be indicted. (Shinichi Ogawa, Masutake Kato)
◆In 2019, a sitting member of the Diet was arrested for the first time in 10 years
After the 2010 case of evidence tampering by a prosecutor in the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office’s special investigation department, there was a “winter period” in the special investigation department, which targets political figures. The turning point came in December 2019 with the arrest of Tsukasa Akimoto (52), a former member of the House of Representatives from Tokyo’s 15th ward (Koto ward), who was sentenced to prison in the first trial, and whose appeal is pending. It was the first time in 10 years that a sitting lawmaker had been detained.
The Special Investigation Department arrested two sitting members in 2023. Kakizawa and Mari Akimoto (48), a member of the House of Representatives who also belongs to the Liberal Democratic Party and was arrested on suspicion of bribery related to offshore wind power generation projects. Both were arrested following the Diet session closed.
◆ Considering the “privilege of immunity from arrest,” the next milestone will be in late January.
Members of the Diet have the “immunity privilege” stipulated in the Constitution. In principle, arrests cannot be made while the Diet is in session. Arrests may be made while the Diet is in session only if the Diet approves the request for permission to arrest. Since the arrest in March 2003 of then-House of Representatives member Takanori Sakai, who died in 2017 at the age of 69, on suspicion of violating the Political Funds Control Act, no case has been initiated during the session for more than 20 years.
The prosecution has options other than arrest. If a person has admitted to the charges or has resigned as a member of the Diet, there are cases where charges are filed at home or on a summary basis.
In January 2021, the Special Investigation Department indicted former Agriculture Minister Takamori Yoshikawa on charges of bribery for accepting a bribe of 5 million yen in cash from a former representative of an egg company while he was serving as agriculture minister. The decision is believed to have taken into account his health condition, including the fact that he had undergone heart surgery.
The Special Investigation Department has chosen to continue its investigation from home regarding a secretary who was deemed to be an “accomplice” in a case of violation of the Public Elections Act regarding the election for mayor of Tokyo’s Koto Ward. A senior district attorney explained that there was no need to make an arrest.
In parallel with this case, the Special Investigation Department is investigating a slush fund scandal involving a political funding party centered on the Liberal Democratic Party’s Abe faction (Seiwa Policy Research Group), with support from prosecutors from all over the country. On the 27th and 28th, police raided the offices of two pro-Abe politicians who are believed to have received large sums of money. Should criminal liability be pursued not only for the faction’s accounting staff but also for its members? The time for making a decision approaches before the regular Diet session begins in late January 2024.
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