Latest news with #KobeDistrictPublicProsecutorsOffice
9 hours ago
- Politics
Hyogo Gov. Referred to Prosecutors over Baseball Parade
News from Japan Jun 13, 2025 18:16 (JST) Kobe, June 13 (Jiji Press)--Police in Hyogo Prefecture on Friday sent papers on Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito and former Vice Governor Yasutaka Katayama to prosecutors for an alleged breach of trust related to a victory parade for local professional baseball teams, according to investigative sources. The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office is expected to carefully decide whether to indict them. Last year, a civic group filed a criminal complaint against Saito and Katayama, claiming that they sought donations for the victory parade in return for an increase in subsidies for financial institutions in November 2023. The group argued that the subsidy increase was unnecessary and caused losses for the prefectural government. Speaking to reporters in the Hyogo city of Toyooka, Saito reiterated that he was handling the matter while abiding by the law, and added that he will fully cooperate with the investigation. Katayama issued a statement through a lawyer, saying that police raised no issues after he explained that there was no link between the victory parade and the subsidy increase. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Asahi Shimbun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
Governor Saito faces criminal complaint over information leak
KOBE--A university professor has filed a criminal complaint against Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito and two others over the leaking of private information about a whistleblower who later died in an apparent suicide. The complaint was submitted to the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office on June 10 by Kobe Gakuin University professor Hiroshi Kamiwaki. It accuses Saito, former Vice Governor Yasutaka Katayama, and Chiaki Inomoto, former director of the prefecture's general affairs division, of violating confidentiality obligation stipulations in the Local Public Officer Law. The whistleblower, who headed the prefectural government's branch office in charge of the Nishi-Harima region, had prepared a document that accused Saito and his top officials of power harassment and corruption. The document was sent anonymously to media organizations in March last year. But the identity of the whistleblower was uncovered. And private information about him was leaked to prefectural assembly members. He was found dead in July. 'I believe this is an organized crime carried out on the orders from the governor and the former vice governor,' Kamiwaki said. 'I hope the criminal allegations will lead to the truth being revealed.' Saito told reporters on June 11 that he takes the criminal complaint seriously. 'I will cooperate with the investigation,' he said. But he again insisted he never gave instructions for the information leak. 'As the prefectural government, we have already concluded this issue after conducting the investigation and deciding on disciplinary measures against the former head of the general affairs division,' the governor said. The criminal complaint is based largely on a report released last month by a third-party investigative committee set up by the prefecture. The committee concluded that Inomoto had leaked the information to three prefectural assembly members, and that the act was 'highly likely to have been ordered by the governor or the former vice governor.' The criminal complaint alleges that Inomoto leaked secrets he learned in the course of his duties, and that Saito and Katayama either ordered or encouraged the move. Kamiwaki said in the complaint that the three people tried to 'deny the credibility of the accusations from the deceased official through the leak in an attempt to protect themselves.' (The article was written by Kai Nemoto and Itsuki Soeda.)
