Were the public prosecutors politically motivated when they arrested and indicted a top aide to the leader of the No. 1 opposition party for seemingly minor charges? Why were the actions taken at a time when Ichiro Ozawa, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, is said to have a fair chance of leading his party to victory in the upcoming general election and becoming the next prime minister?
These are some of the questions that remain unanswered in the aftermath of the March 24 indictment of Takanori Okubo, Ozawa's official secretary, for falsifying reports on political contributions allegedly made by a major construction company. These clouds hovering over the scandal have cast doubt on the ability of the law enforcement agencies to handle cases involving politicians, free from interventions.
Okubo was indicted for filing a report saying that large sums of contributions made to Ozawa's funding organization came from independent political groups, even though he had known full well that the donations were made by Nishimatsu Construction Co., thus violating the Political Funds Control Law, which prohibits business entities from giving money to lawmakers.