In the Tokyo District Court trial of three former secretaries of former Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa, the prosecution on July 20 demanded 3½ years of imprisonment for Mr. Takanori Okubo; two years for Mr. Tomohiro Ishikawa, currently a Lower House member; and one year for Mr. Mitsutomo Ikeda.

The three are charged with making false entries in reports of Rikuzankai, Mr. Ozawa's political funds management body. The case involves ¥400 million that Rikuzankai borrowed from Mr. Ozawa in October 2004 to buy a plot of land.

The ruling, to be handed down Sept. 26, may accuse the prosecution of conducting an unlawful or, at the very least, a defective investigation. The prosecution said that because the ¥400 million was of a shady origin that Rikuzankai could not make public, the secretaries schemed to hide the fact that Rikuzankai had borrowed it from Mr. Ozawa.