A senior official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry was cleared of criminal charges Friday that she fabricated and issued an official document to an organization enabling it to abuse the mail discount system for disabled people.
The Osaka District Court found Atsuko Muraki, 54, former director general of the ministry's Equal Employment, Children and Families Bureau, not guilty.
Presiding Judge Nobuyuki Yokota brushed aside the prosecutors' argument that Muraki had instructed a subordinate to forge the official document.