Japan Press Weekly

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2018 March 28 - April 3 [POLITICS]

Suspicions about alteration of 'Moritomo'-related documents deepened by Sagawa's testimony: JCP Chair

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on March 27 commented on the summoning of a former Financial Ministry official regarding altered official documents related to the "Moritomo Gakuen", saying, "It was an extremely insincere testimony."

After the summoning of the former ministry financial bureau chief, Sagawa Nobuhisa, to both chambers of the Diet earlier on the same day, Shii held a press conference in the Diet building and said, "By emphasizing that he 'could face prosecution' over the falsification, Sagawa didn't respond to any questions which touched upon the tampering of documents."

Shii told the press, "Sagawa repeatedly claimed that 'there weren't any instructions from Mr. and Mrs. Abe or from the PM Office', but he did not provide evidence to support his testimony."

Shii said, "Sagawa did not admit to his own involvement in the doctoring of the ministry's data. So how can it be possible for him to assert 'there were no instructions from above'? It is because he himself played an important role in the matter. His testimony was full of contradictions."

Shii criticized Sagawa for refusing to testify about the process involved in the falsification of documents for "fear of criminal prosecution", adding, "If this logic is accepted, any summoning of witnesses will be meaningless. Under the Diet Testimony Law, this is an obvious abuse of the right to remain silent."

He stated, "The suspicion of the involvement of PM Abe and his wife has deepened even more. They cannot be allowed to draw a curtain over the affair with Sagawa's appearance as a sworn witness before the Diet today."

He went on to say, "Both Houses should continue to pursue the truth. Alteration of official records is an affront to the National Diet. It is necessary for both the Upper and Lower Houses to exercise their authority to investigate matters of government misconduct in order to uncover how the tampering was allowed to take place," and expressed his determination to demand that PM Abe's wife Akie, Sakota Hidenori (the then financial bureau head in charge of the negotiation for a state-owned land sale to Moritomo), and government official Tani Saeko (Akie's courier at that time) be called as sworn witnesses in the Diet.

Past related articles:
> Ex-Moritomo president: PM’s wife knew how the land deal was progressing [March 24, 2018]
> Summoning of Sagawa is just 1st step: JCP Kokuta [March 21, 2018]
> Abe’s wife should explain her involvement in ‘Moritomo’ scandal before Diet [March 20, 2018]
> PM Abe's statements to Diet trigger doctoring of 'Moritomo'-related official records [March 14, 2018]