The Tokyo High Court upheld a guilty verdict Wednesday handed to dismissed Foreign Ministry official Masaru Sato for misusing state funds and leaking bidding data for an aid project on a Russian-held island in 2000 under the influence of convicted lawmaker Muneo Suzuki.
Sato, 47, was sentenced by the Tokyo District Court in February 2005 to a suspended 30-month prison term. The former senior information analyst, who is an expert in Russian affairs, had pleaded not guilty.
The district court also said Sato was acting under pressure from Suzuki, who was then deputy chief Cabinet secretary. Suzuki was convicted of bribery and other offenses and sentenced to two years in prison in November 2004, but remains a lawmaker as his appeal is pending.
A focal point at the high court was how to judge the political influence that Sato's charges were based on.
The district court ruled Sato illegally led a Foreign Ministry-affiliated body set up to assist Russia to disburse 33 million yen between March and June 2000 for other purposes, including financing trips for Japanese academics who were taking part in meetings in Israel.
Sato also leaked the aid organization's bidding data for a power generation project on disputed Kunashiri Island off Hokkaido to Mitsui & Co. in 2000 so the trading house could win a contract for the project, the district court said.
Sato had worked closely with Suzuki, who was an influential figure in the Liberal Democratic Party at the time.
