By HIKARU YOKOYAMA/ Staff Writer
March 14, 2024 at 18:18 JST
Mito Kakizawa, former state minister of justice, during the first hearing of his trial at the Tokyo District Court on Feb. 14 (Sketch by Kageyoshi Koyanagi)
Mito Kakizawa, former state minister of justice, received a suspended prison sentence on March 14 after being convicted of vote-buying and conducting illegal campaign activities during a mayoral election in Tokyo’s Koto Ward.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Kakizawa, 53, to two years in prison, suspended for five years, for violating the Public Offices Election Law.
“His acts were malicious, shaking trust in the fairness of elections,” Presiding Judge Katsuko Mukai said. “Such acts led to political distrust, including in national politics, and have had significantly adverse effects.”
This is the first ruling in the case in which nine people have been indicted.
The other suspects include Kakizawa’s secretaries, former Koto Ward Mayor Yayoi Kimura, 58, and ward assembly members.
Seven are now on trial. The first hearing in Kimura’s trial is set for March 18.
According to the ruling, Kakizawa, then a Lower House member, gave or offered a total of 2.8 million yen ($19,000) to 10 people, including ward assembly members, a former assembly member and campaign staff.
The funds were intended as compensation for efforts to help Kimura win in the ward mayoral election in April last year, the ruling said.
Kakizawa was also tied to paid online ads on YouTube worth around 370,000 yen to seek votes for Kimura during the campaign, according to the ruling.
The use of such ads for campaigning is prohibited under the Public Offices Election Law.
Including amounts his secretaries provided, Kakizawa’s office as a whole was charged with providing around 3.36 million yen to 14 people.
Kakizawa initially denied the charges, saying “the funds were intended to support campaigns for the ward assembly election, which was held at the same time as the ward mayoral election.”
After his arrest in December, however, he admitted to the allegations.
At the first hearing of his trial in February, Kakizawa said, “I apologize for causing so much trouble to many people.”
During questioning, he exercised his right to remain silent and did not give any details.
In his final statement, he said, “Being a politician was my calling, but I’ve ruined everything with this case.”
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