The Osaka District Court said in a trial in which a doctor at a municipal hospital in Kishiwada City, Osaka, was charged with acquittal for receiving cash in return for the convenience of a medical research institute in Tokyo over joint research on pollinosis. All the grounds pointed out by the officials are weak, "he said and pleaded not guilty.

He also acquitted the representative director of the Medical Research Institute, who was accused of bribery.

The acquittals were Dr. Genichi Kato (64), who was the director of the respiratory center of Kishiwada City Hospital, and Jun Kojima (65), the representative director of the Medical Research Institute in Toshima Ward, Tokyo.



Dr. Kato was accused of bribery three years ago for receiving 200,000 yen in cash in return for facilitating the medical institute to conclude a joint research contract for specialized pollinosis research.



In addition, Kojima was charged with bribery for giving cash.



In a ruling on the 22nd, Judge Naokuni Yano of the Osaka District Court pointed out that "there are no particular circumstances in which the institute was provided with a favorable arrangement."



In addition, 200,000 yen in cash was not a bribe and was "paid for giving advice as a medical expert. An amount exceeding the limit allowed by social convention as a reward for knowledge and experience. It cannot always be said that it is. "



He also pointed out that the crime of bribery was not established, saying that "all the grounds pointed out by the prosecutor are weak" and acquitted both.

Comments from the President of the Medical Research Institute, who was acquitted

Jun Kojima, who was acquitted on charges of bribery, announced his comments through a lawyer.



In this, the representative director said, "For more than two years, I was in a state of being mentally cornered by being told by the police and the prosecution that I was a criminal, so I was relieved that the court gave me a proper evaluation for the time being. I am. "



On top of that, "I lost a lot of work in this case and lost the trust of the industry. I will give birth to someone like me whose life will be destroyed by being falsely accused of innocence. I think we have to ask the whole criminal justice and the way of reporting so that there is no such thing. "



Takashi Miura, a lawyer who defended the representative director, held a press conference and said, "I think that the decision was exactly what I expected, and that a very natural decision was made."



He then told the investigative agency, "You should have known at the investigation stage that the bribery would not work. Understand that investigating as a criminal case would destroy the person's life." I did.

Prosecution's comment

Regarding the acquittal, Kensaburo Yazawa, Deputy Prosecutor of the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office, commented, "We will scrutinize the content of the judgment and take appropriate measures in consultation with the higher agency."