Loading
Search
▼ Charge of Perjury Mulled for Kagoike
- Category:Event
The ruling parties are examining the Diet testimony by Yasunori Kagoike of school operator Moritomo Gakuen, with an eye on charging him with perjury if they judge it to be false. Kagoike was summoned to the budget committees of both chambers of the Diet as a sworn witness over the sale of state-owned land.
It is common for the Diet to decide by a unanimous vote on whether to bring such a charge, as a charge by the Diet involves a heavy responsibility. However, opposition parties are grilling the administration more aggressively based on Kagoike’s testimony, so there is a high hurdle for the ruling parties to realize the charge.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party sees as problematic the period in which Kagoike collected donations for an elementary school using the name “Shinzo Abe memorial elementary school.”
Kagoike testified that he used the name “for a brief period when Abe was a member of the House of Representatives” before he returned to power in December 2012. But the LDP believes that Kagoike used the name until around 2015.
Abe said at the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors on Friday:
“[Kagoike] testified that he used my name ‘for a brief period.’ But [we] did research and found that he used it for more than two years. It is quite regrettable.”
Kagoike alleged that when Abe’s wife Akie gave a speech at the kindergarten of Moritomo Gakuen, Akie asked her aide to leave so she could be alone with Kagoike in the office of the kindergarten’s director, and he received a ¥1 million donation from her.
But Akie denied that, saying she was accompanied by two aides and there was no chance for her to be alone with Kagoike.
LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura said, “Kagoike is an outrageous liar.” Aiming to quickly settle the situation, the LDP began considering whether Kagoike could be charged with perjury under the Diet Testimony Law, which stipulates a prison term of three months to 10 years if convicted.
According to the secretariats of both chambers of the Diet, 18 people have been charged with perjury under the law so far. In many cases, they had already been arrested by investigative authorities when they were charged by the Diet.
A source related to the Diet said, “It’s difficult to prove a charge through research and investigation conducted only by the Diet.”
A two-thirds majority of the committee that summoned the witness is required for a perjury charge. Kagoike was summoned by the budget committees of both chambers. In the lower house Budget Committee, the ruling parties have a two-thirds majority.
According to precedents since 1976, for which records are available, 12
people have been charged in unanimous votes. Therefore, a middle-ranking LDP lawmaker said, “It’s difficult to charge [Kagoike] without false testimony that even opposition parties agree was false.”
Within the largest opposition Democratic Party, many members are cautious about charging Kagoike. A senior party member said: “A donation made behind closed doors tends to turn out to be a he-said, she-said argument. It’s difficult to disprove it.”
The DP is demanding Akie be summoned as a sworn witness to unravel the truth.
A letter of a charge over suspicion of offering a bribe was sent to the special investigation squad of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office. The letter said Kagoike and his wife tried to give a bribe to Yoshitada Konoike, a former disaster management minister, regarding the acquisition of the state-owned land.
It is common for the Diet to decide by a unanimous vote on whether to bring such a charge, as a charge by the Diet involves a heavy responsibility. However, opposition parties are grilling the administration more aggressively based on Kagoike’s testimony, so there is a high hurdle for the ruling parties to realize the charge.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party sees as problematic the period in which Kagoike collected donations for an elementary school using the name “Shinzo Abe memorial elementary school.”
Kagoike testified that he used the name “for a brief period when Abe was a member of the House of Representatives” before he returned to power in December 2012. But the LDP believes that Kagoike used the name until around 2015.
Abe said at the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors on Friday:
“[Kagoike] testified that he used my name ‘for a brief period.’ But [we] did research and found that he used it for more than two years. It is quite regrettable.”
Kagoike alleged that when Abe’s wife Akie gave a speech at the kindergarten of Moritomo Gakuen, Akie asked her aide to leave so she could be alone with Kagoike in the office of the kindergarten’s director, and he received a ¥1 million donation from her.
But Akie denied that, saying she was accompanied by two aides and there was no chance for her to be alone with Kagoike.
LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura said, “Kagoike is an outrageous liar.” Aiming to quickly settle the situation, the LDP began considering whether Kagoike could be charged with perjury under the Diet Testimony Law, which stipulates a prison term of three months to 10 years if convicted.
According to the secretariats of both chambers of the Diet, 18 people have been charged with perjury under the law so far. In many cases, they had already been arrested by investigative authorities when they were charged by the Diet.
A source related to the Diet said, “It’s difficult to prove a charge through research and investigation conducted only by the Diet.”
A two-thirds majority of the committee that summoned the witness is required for a perjury charge. Kagoike was summoned by the budget committees of both chambers. In the lower house Budget Committee, the ruling parties have a two-thirds majority.
According to precedents since 1976, for which records are available, 12
people have been charged in unanimous votes. Therefore, a middle-ranking LDP lawmaker said, “It’s difficult to charge [Kagoike] without false testimony that even opposition parties agree was false.”
Within the largest opposition Democratic Party, many members are cautious about charging Kagoike. A senior party member said: “A donation made behind closed doors tends to turn out to be a he-said, she-said argument. It’s difficult to disprove it.”
The DP is demanding Akie be summoned as a sworn witness to unravel the truth.
A letter of a charge over suspicion of offering a bribe was sent to the special investigation squad of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office. The letter said Kagoike and his wife tried to give a bribe to Yoshitada Konoike, a former disaster management minister, regarding the acquisition of the state-owned land.
- April 1, 2017
- Comment (0)
- Trackback(0)