Ex-Japan trade minister merits indictment over gift scandal: panel
An inquest body has concluded that former Japanese trade minister Isshu Sugawara merits indictment over a money and gift scandal.
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.
Isshu Sugawara. (Kyodo)
Such panels, composed of 11 eligible voters chosen by lottery, are set up to review decisions by prosecutors not to put a suspect on trial if complainants challenge the decision.