A civil inquest body has concluded that former trade minister Isshu Sugawara should be indicted over a money and gift scandal, a decision the ex-minister said he takes "seriously."
Following the decision by the Committee for the Inquest of Prosecution, Tokyo prosecutors will now resume investigating the allegation that the Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker's office offered money and gifts to supporters between 2017 and 2019 in violation of the election law.
Such panels, composed of 11 randomly chosen eligible voters, are set up if complainants challenge a decision by prosecutors not to put a suspect on trial.