In a trial in which Anri Kawai, a member of the House of Councilors, was accused of taking over an election that violated the Public Offices Election Act, the Tokyo District Court admitted that the purpose of giving cash to local members was the purpose of the takeover. He was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months in prison and 5 years suspended sentence, saying that he had a large amount of criminal liability.

A decision of the Tokyo District Court sentenced a member of the House of Councilors Anri Kawai to imprisonment for 1 year and 4 months and a suspended sentence of 5 years.

He decided that the cash was distributed for the purpose of the acquisition and admitted that he was also colluding with his husband, former Minister Katsuyuki.

I will tell you the points of judgment in detail.

1. Purpose of acquisition

The ruling admitted that four of the five prefectural assembly members who were given cash by Senator Anri had the purpose of acquisition.



One of the reasons the ruling cited was the election situation at the time.



Senator Anri did not receive support from the Liberal Democratic Party Hiroshima Kenren, but insisted at the trial that he "thought it was an easy election."



However, the ruling said, "We were in a difficult situation where we could not expect support from LDP members, except in areas where Anri Kawai and former Minister of Justice Katsuyuki were based."



On top of that, he said that he was distributing cash to prefectural assembly members who have a strong influence on voters other than the ground of Representatives Kuri and others. It's worth the rewards of campaigning for the election, "he said.



In addition, in response to the fact that Senator Anri and lawyers insisted that the purpose of cash was a celebration of winning or a sympathy for the team, "Even if you say that it is a celebration of winning, the situation of the election, the time of delivery, the situation of passing And, if you add up the amount of money, it doesn't really affect the recognition that Senator Anri had the purpose of acquisition. "

2. Collusion with former Minister Katsuyuki

Regarding the collusion with former Minister Katsuyuki, which was another issue, the ruling admitted that it was a collusion.



The reason for this was that the ruling determined that the list and list of cash providers prepared and managed by former Minister Katsuyuki was important evidence.



The list includes the names and numbers of local lawmakers, which matches the amount actually handed over, so "former Minister Katsuyuki has compiled the parties and amounts handed over by himself and Senator Anri." Certified.



He pointed out that the former minister, who was in a position to take charge of the election activities of Anri Kawai, had also taken care of the provision of cash, and said, "The fact that Anri Kawai handed cash to the prefectural assembly members was also the situation in the election situation at that time. It is recognized that former Minister Katsuyuki Kawai had delivered the election, "he said.

3. Sentence

Regarding the reason why he was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months in prison and 5 years suspended sentence, the judgment was "a crime that impairs the fairness of elections, which is the basis of democracy, and the amount of cash handed over is 300,000 each. From yen to 500,000 yen, the total amount is 1.6 million yen, which is a large amount, and the criminal liability is heavy. "



On that basis, he gave a suspended sentence saying that "Representative Anri does not have a criminal record of the same kind", but regarding the maximum period of 5 years stipulated by law, "the period for suspending civil rights is 5". There are no special circumstances below the year. "