Former House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki will be released on parole possibly next Tuesday after being imprisoned last December following his conviction on bribery and other charges, sources said Wednesday.
The 63-year-old leader of Hokkaido-based New Party Daichi was supposed to be freed next April after 17 months in prison, but a corrections committee under the Justice Ministry endorsed the parole, considering his remorse among other factors, the sources said.
Suzuki, a former deputy chief Cabinet secretary, was sentenced to two years in prison and fined ¥11 million for accepting the same amount in bribes from two companies in Hokkaido in 1997 and 1998, making a false statement in 1998 in his political funds report and committing perjury during a 2002 Diet session.
Suzuki underwent surgery for esophagus cancer in October 2010 and was imprisoned in December after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal. He subsequently lost his Diet seat and is barred from running for public office for five years after finishing his sentence.
The two-year prison term was shortened to 17 months by subtracting time he had spent in detention during the investigation and trial.