Katsuyuki Kawai In a large-scale bribery case related to the House of Councillors election in which the prison sentence of the former Minister of Justice was confirmed, a former Hiroshima City Councilor who was voluntarily interrogated complained that he was prompted to give a statement by the prosecutor of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Special Investigation Department, suggesting that he would not be prosecuted. There were no organizational instructions.
The issue is based on audio recordings of a voluntary interrogation by the Hiroshima City Councilor at the time, who was convicted in October and is appealing the case after being accused of receiving cash from former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai in a large-scale bribery case surrounding the House of Councillors election four years ago. He complained that he had been inappropriately interrogated by a prosecutor of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Special Investigation Department, who suggested that he would not prosecute and urged him to make a statement acknowledging the purpose of the bribe.
The Supreme Prosecutor's Office compiled the results of the investigation by interviewing the prosecutor in charge and senior investigators.
In this context, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office concluded that the prosecutor who conducted the interrogation said to the former city councilor, "I would like you to continue as a councilor if you can, and I want you to ride the rails," and that "it is difficult to deny that it was an expectation that the prosecution would not be prosecuted, and it was inappropriate from the perspective of ensuring the appropriateness of the interrogation."
In addition, some of the audio and video recordings of the interrogation were inappropriate because they were intended to correct the situation of the former city councilor's unstable statements.
However, as a result of interviews with the chief prosecutor and senior investigators, it is recognized that "there was no organizational instruction" regarding these interrogations.
In addition, the court concluded that another prosecutor of the Special Investigation Division, who was in charge of the trial of former Minister Kawai, was said to have repeatedly induced profits, such as promising not to prosecute, when he confirmed the expected exchanges during the interrogation.
On top of that, there were words and actions that could be perceived as if how to respond to the cross-examination of a lawyer should be prioritized over objective facts, and there were doubts about the fairness of the witness examination, and "more careful consideration was required."
The Supreme Prosecutor's Office will provide guidance to the prosecutors in charge and strengthen guidance and education for prosecutors.
Director of the Inspection and Guidance Department, Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office: "Strive to ensure proper interrogations, etc."
Hiroshi Matsumoto, Director of the Inspector General's Department of Guidance at the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office, said, "Although we did not find any promises not to prosecute or the fact that he made false statements or testified against the case, we have issued further warnings to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office to prevent recurrence because it was found that the prosecutor's response in charge of the investigation was inappropriate and that the prosecutor in charge of the trial required more careful consideration. I commented.