Photo/Illutration Kunihiro Matsuo, right, a former prosecutor-general, and Isao Shimizu, a retired prosecutor in the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, head to the Justice Ministry on May 15 to submit a document denouncing a bill to extend the retirement age of public prosecutors. (Toshiyuki Hayashi)

Retired top prosecutors on May 15 submitted a position paper urging the Justice Ministry to retract wording in a bill that they said could turn the criminal justice system into a puppet of the government.

It is highly unusual for a group of retired top prosecutors to openly express opposition to a government-sponsored bill.

But the 14 retired prosecutors who submitted the paper to the ministry described the bill now before the Diet as so problematic that all citizens should oppose its passage.

The legislation would give the government discretion in extending the retirement age of current top prosecutors. Essentially, it would provide legal backing for Hiromu Kurokawa, the head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, to work beyond the normal retirement age of 63 and take over as prosecutor-general when the current holder of that top position retires.

Kurokawa is said to be close to the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Kurokawa turned 63 on Feb. 8, but the Abe Cabinet on Jan. 31 approved the decision to extend his retirement by six months.

The paper submitted to the ministry said the retirement-age provision would “legitimize interference by those holding political authority in the selection of top prosecutors” and “is intended to restrain the actions of prosecutors who do not follow the intentions of the administration.”

One signer of the position paper was Kunihiro Matsuo, 77, who was prosecutor-general after investigating the corruption case against former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka that rocked the nation in the 1970s.

The document also expressed hope that all citizens of good conscience will raise their voices to prevent passage of the legislation.

Widespread criticism against the bill was expressed online when celebrities’ tweets opposing Diet passage of the legislation were retweeted millions of times.

The position paper also described the Cabinet decision to allow Kurokawa to continue working beyond his 63rd birthday as “highly unusual.”

The document went on to say the proposed legislation would provide “retroactive approval of an illegal Cabinet decision.”

In fact, the position paper blasted the entire process, from Cabinet approval to submittal of the bill, as “something that cannot be ignored” since it would “weaken the entire prosecutorial structure and convert it into an organ that would act in accordance with the will of the government.”

Matsuo was prosecutor-general for two years from 2004 after working as the top bureaucrat in the Justice Ministry.

Tsutomu Hotta, who was involved in the investigation of the Tanaka corruption scandal, Hiroyoshi Murayama, who once headed the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, and Hiroyasu Sugihara, former chief of the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office, also signed the document.

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