The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office on July 31 decided not to indict a former prosecutor with the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. Mr. Masahiro Tashiro was accused of falsifying a report on a suspect's oral testimony over the alleged falsification of fund reports of Rikuzankai, a political funds management body of former Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa.

It is the second time that the office has decided not to indict Mr. Tashiro, and the decision is final.

The public is unlikely to accept the decision because evidence clearly shows that Mr. Tashiro falsified the report. Apparently the highest prosecution authorities gave priority to protecting a former public prosecutor, and thus the prosecutors' office itself as part of the government bureaucracy. If Mr. Tashiro had been indicted, the supreme public prosecutor could have been forced to resign, causing serious damage to the prosecution.