Masako, the wife of Toshio Akagi (then 54) of the Kinki Local Finance Bureau, who committed suicide after being involved in the falsification of documents approved by the Ministry of Finance, filed a civil lawsuit in which she said, "I want to know the truth about her husband's death."
The Osaka District Court denied the former Director of the Finance Bureau Sagawa's personal liability for compensation and dismissed the lawsuit, saying, "There is no legal obligation to provide an explanation or an apology."
"Her husband wasn't protected by the law, but can Ms. Sagawa be protected?
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(Osaka Broadcasting Station Reporter Masahiro Shimazaki)
Masako: “Mr. Sagawa will be protected.”
After the judgment on the 25th, Masako Akagi responded to the interview wearing the muffler that her husband Toshio used.
Masako Akagi:
"I approached the judgment with the feeling that I was with my husband. However, nothing I wanted to know came out. Why did I work hard for two years and eight months in the trial?" I felt unreasonable that my husband was not protected by the law, but Ms. Sagawa was."
Husband was involved in the falsification of the memoirs, and "anguish"
Her husband, Toshio Akagi, who was an employee of the Kinki Local Finance Bureau, took his own life four years ago.
It all started when she was involved in falsifying the Ministry of Finance's approval documents regarding Moritomo Gakuen.
In 2017, it was discovered that the government-owned land was being sold at a discount to the school.
Nobuhisa Sagawa, former director-general of the Ministry of Finance's financial affairs bureau, said, "There are no records of negotiations," and "There was absolutely no involvement of politicians."
However, in reality, the Finance Ministry instructed the Kinki Finance Bureau to delete the details of the negotiations and the names of politicians from its records, citing ``concerns over possible disputes in Diet deliberations''.
An official document has been falsified.
In the notes left by Toshio, he wrote about the anguish of being involved in the falsification and being cornered to the point of taking his own life.
Toshio Akagi's memoir:
"Even though I resisted, I've been thinking about how to take responsibility as a person involved. I can't explain the facts in a public place. Current health and physical strength. So I had no choice but to take this method.(Fragility and fear of not being able to welcome the spring of 55 years old)"
Masako:
"The day my husband died was the most painful day of my life. There was a lot of fuss at the time, but I still haven't found an answer as to how the falsification took place. I'm very dissatisfied with being treated as if it never happened."
Civil lawsuit brought by wife “I want to know the truth about my husband’s death”
Two years after her husband's death, Masako filed a lawsuit against the government and the former head of the Finance Bureau, Sagawa, seeking compensation totaling more than 100 million yen.
She wants to know the truth about why her husband was forced to commit suicide.
Disclosed "Akagi file" reveals intention of protest
The trial took place in June of last year.
The so-called "Akagi file" that Toshio left at work was disclosed.
E-mails were left directly to the Ministry of Finance headquarters to express their intention to protest, and it was clear that they were forced to unilaterally tamper with the information.
Masako:
"I think it was wonderful to know how her husband works, and I'm glad I was able to see her husband's footsteps."
Sudden “recognition” of the country, not even one person interrogated
However, in December last year, the government suddenly ended the trial in an unexpected way.
We took the procedure of "acceptance" to fully accept the claim at the venue of private consultation, and in spite of the compensation set at a high price, we accepted the payment.
None of the parties involved in the tampering were questioned because the trial ended before it was decided whether to carry it out or not.
It was not revealed what the specific instructions for falsification were, or whether former Director Sagawa received instructions from anyone.
The government explained,
``It is not appropriate to prolong the trial unnecessarily, and in light of the nature of the case, including the falsification of the document, we accept all claims.''
Masako:
``It's not a problem that just needs to be paid. I want to know why he died and why he had to die."
Even in the trial with former director Sagawa, who was left behind, I could not hear the story directly
All that was left was the trial with former director Sagawa.
The court did not approve the interrogation of the individuals, saying, ``It is possible to make a judgment without interrogation.''
In July of this year, all the hearings were completed, and Masako's request to hear her story in person did not go through.
Masako:
"I felt that the government's response was treating her husband's life very lightly, and I felt that her husband had been killed many times. She wanted to hear from Ms. Sagawa. We can't get close to the truth about her husband's death unless we can do it."
The lawsuit was dismissed, and the personal responsibility of former director Sagawa was not recognized.
Then came the judgment on the 25th.
The point of contention was whether the individual responsibility for compensation for former Bureau Chief Sagawa, who was a national public servant, was recognized.
Former bureau chief Sagawa demanded that the lawsuit be dismissed, saying, ``There is an established judicial precedent that states that the government is responsible for compensation for acts in the course of duty, and that individual civil servants are not responsible.''
On the other hand, for Masako, the trial with former director Sagawa was the last big battle left to get to the truth about her husband's death.
She has asked the court to admit former director Sagawa to her personal liability and to ensure that she never makes the same sacrifices as her husband did.
In the ruling, Presiding Judge Akira Nakao did not acknowledge the individual liability of former Bureau Chief Sagawa, taking into consideration the precedents of the Supreme Court and the fact that the government has already recognized compensation through "acknowledgment."
He then dismissed the complaint, saying that he had no legal obligation to explain or apologize to the former director, morally aside, since he was not held liable.
It was not clear at the trial what specific instructions Ms. Masako had given to falsify the records, or whether she received instructions from anyone else.
Expert ``Concern about loss of trust in judiciary''
Hidehiro Suzuki, an associate professor at Nihon University who is familiar with administrative lawsuits, points out that the judgment was a formality that did not respond to the voices of the parties who wanted to know the truth.
Associate Professor Hidehiro Suzuki, Nihon University
"It is a decision that does not deviate from the framework of the Supreme Court's precedents and is not surprising because it was applied formally. The only way for a party to file a lawsuit against the government to seek clarification of the truth is the compensation for damages system. Although we rely on the judiciary, we are concerned that trust in the judiciary will be undermined if we continue to show judgment that nothing more nor less as long as we ignore the actual situation and compensate for the damage in terms of money. will be
Find out the truth about the death of a husband who kept his will
Masako, who risked her life to face the trial, felt the limits of her energy and physical strength.
She was debating whether to continue with the trial, but she said she was sentenced and she wants to continue her fight by appealing.
In October last year, she filed another lawsuit requesting disclosure of documents showing internal exchanges within the Ministry of Finance based on the Akagi files, and it is unlikely that new facts will be revealed through this lawsuit. left.
Masako:
"My husband has followed his own will, and I respect and love my deceased husband. Even now, I think that Mr. Sagawa should explain in public. My husband's I want to know why he died and what happened, and I want to continue to appeal that I don't want something like this to happen again."