Public Prosecutor General Hiroshi Obayashi was forced to resign after being in office for only six months in the wake of a series of scandals involving the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad, including the tampering of evidence by one of its prosecutors.
This was the first time that the man holding the highest and most powerful post in law enforcement had to step down to take responsibility for blunders committed by others at lower levels.
The prosecution was rocked by the ruling handed down by the Osaka District Court on Sept. 10, acquitting Ms. Atsuko Muraki, a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, whom the prosecutors charged with falsifying an official document. The court threw out depositions of witnesses brought against her by prosecutors, calling them fabricated and groundless. Eleven days later, the prosecutors decided not to appeal the case, making her acquittal final.