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Bribery accusations claimed in trial of former Justice Minister

A sketch of Katsuyuki Kawai during a November 2020 court proceeding. Kawai is under arrest for his involvement in an alleged bribery case.  (Sketch by Tamaki Hosokawa specially for ANJ)
A sketch of Katsuyuki Kawai during a November 2020 court proceeding. Kawai is under arrest for his involvement in an alleged bribery case. (Sketch by Tamaki Hosokawa specially for ANJ)
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16 Feb 2021 01:02:45 GMT9
16 Feb 2021 01:02:45 GMT9

Tamaki Hosokawa

TOKYO: More people testified against the arrested former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai, 57, at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday, where he is on trial for alleged violations of the Public Office Election Law. He is accused of bribing local members of his political party, the Liberal Democratic Party, so his wife, Anri, would be the party’s nominee for the 2019 House of Councilors race.

In his court session, the defendant appeared wearing a navy suit and white shirt with no tie. As the witnesses were questioned by a prosecutor, Kawai’s eyes were closed most of the time, although he did occasionally take notes.

Yugo Waki, a 72-year-old former volunteer for Kawai’s wife when she ran for a seat in the House of Councilors in 2019, testified via video as a prosecution witness. He told the court that Kawai named him as the head of the office in April 2019 and on his first day at work Kawai handed him a white envelope containing 600,000 Japanese yen (around $6,000). Waki told the court it was not usual to remunerate volunteers.

“I immediately knew that it was cash in that envelope and I tried to reject it, but he told me strongly to keep it, so I placed in the inside pocket of my jacket so no so other staff would see it,” he recalled. When asked by the prosecution what he thought the cash was for, the witness said, “I thought he meant I should vote for his wife and ask my family and friends to vote for her. There was no reason for him to give me cash otherwise.”

He also testified that there was a dinner Kawai invited him to join at a fancy blowfish restaurant in April 2019. Waki recollects Kawai saying firmly that the other candidate from the district vying for the same seat, Kensei Mizote, should not be the one who to receive the party’s nomination, and Anri should be the only candidate.

Waki told the court that he kept both the envelopes in his drawer at home while waiting for the right time to return them to Kawai. However, he admitted that he eventually spent all the cash: “I saw in the news that the Kawais were being investigated, so I thought I should spend the money quick.”

The defense team disclosed during its cross examination a contradiction between his testimony and the oral statement recorded during his interrogation at the public prosecutor’s office. Toshiya Natori, lead defense counsel for Kawai, asked the witness: “You said in your oral statement that you did not condone the cash and just accepted it, whereas today you are saying that you could not accept the cash and wanted to return it. You told the prosecutor that you were planning to put into your savings.”

The witness became agitated at this and replied: “Well, maybe that was the thing at that time, you know, that is the way it goes. As the interrogation proceeded, I regained my memory, I guess.”

The defense team will start to call witnesses at the end of February. This case has rocked Japanese political world and cost the wife, Anri Kawai, her seat at the House of Councilors plus a suspected prison sentence taken by Tokyo district court last month.

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