ID :
28622
Wed, 11/05/2008 - 14:46
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/28622
The shortlink copeid
Ex-Japan Vice Defense Min. Given 30-Month Term for Bribery
Tokyo, Nov. 5 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo District Court on Wednesday ruled
former Japanese Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya guilty of taking bribes from a defense contractor and making false statements to parliament, sentencing him to two and a half years in prison.
The court also fined Moriya 12.5 million yen. Prosecutors had
sought a prison term of three and a half years and fines of 12.5 million
yen.
Moriya, 60, filed an appeal against the ruling.
Of the remaining three accused over the same case, Motonobu
Miyazaki, 70, former senior managing director of defense equipment trader
Yamada Corp., was sentenced to two years in prison, against three years
demanded by the prosecution.
Osamu Akiyama, 71, former president of a U.S. subsidiary of Yamada,
and former Yamada official Tomonari Imaji, 58, were given suspended
sentences.
Presiding Judge Minoru Uemura said Moriya formed collusive
relationships with Miyazaki and the other former Yamada officials and
provided unfair favors to them in return for bribes.
The ruling confirmed that Moriya received bribes worth 12.5 million
yen in the form of cash, free golf outings and other entertainment between
August 2003 and April 2007. Over the period, Moriya participated in more
than 100 golf outings, while part of the cash was paid into bank accounts of
Moriya's wife and daughter, the ruling said.
Moriya also made false statements when he was summoned to
parliament as a sworn witness in October and November 2007, according to the
ruling.
Standing before the House of Representatives special committee on
measures against terrorism in October that year, Moriya made a perjured
statement that he paid 10,000 yen for each of the golf outings, the ruling
said.
In the following month, he falsely denied receiving any financial
help from Miyazaki for his daughter's overseas education at a hearing of the
House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to the
ruling.
Uemura said Moriya participated in golf outings with Yamada
officials from around 1994. Moriya used false names to play golf, the judge
said, stressing that his act is considered extremely vicious, given the
large number of such outings, the total amount of money spent and other
factors related to the golf tours.
Moriya met with senior officials of a foreign defense equipment
maker and made remarks that favored Miyazaki, Uemura said.
The former top defense bureaucrat also ordered his junior
colleagues to consider buying specific equipment, including an engine for a
new destroyer of the Maritime Self-Defense-Force, in hopes of supporting
Miyazaki, he also said.
Moriya served as vice defense minister from Aug. 1, 2003, to Aug.
31, 2007. The bribery scandal came to light in October 2007.
While in office, Moriya exerted strong leadership on issues such as
the U.S. military realignment in Japan, the dispatch of Ground SDF troops to
Iraq on a reconstruction mission, and the Defense Agency's upgrade to full
ministry status.
former Japanese Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya guilty of taking bribes from a defense contractor and making false statements to parliament, sentencing him to two and a half years in prison.
The court also fined Moriya 12.5 million yen. Prosecutors had
sought a prison term of three and a half years and fines of 12.5 million
yen.
Moriya, 60, filed an appeal against the ruling.
Of the remaining three accused over the same case, Motonobu
Miyazaki, 70, former senior managing director of defense equipment trader
Yamada Corp., was sentenced to two years in prison, against three years
demanded by the prosecution.
Osamu Akiyama, 71, former president of a U.S. subsidiary of Yamada,
and former Yamada official Tomonari Imaji, 58, were given suspended
sentences.
Presiding Judge Minoru Uemura said Moriya formed collusive
relationships with Miyazaki and the other former Yamada officials and
provided unfair favors to them in return for bribes.
The ruling confirmed that Moriya received bribes worth 12.5 million
yen in the form of cash, free golf outings and other entertainment between
August 2003 and April 2007. Over the period, Moriya participated in more
than 100 golf outings, while part of the cash was paid into bank accounts of
Moriya's wife and daughter, the ruling said.
Moriya also made false statements when he was summoned to
parliament as a sworn witness in October and November 2007, according to the
ruling.
Standing before the House of Representatives special committee on
measures against terrorism in October that year, Moriya made a perjured
statement that he paid 10,000 yen for each of the golf outings, the ruling
said.
In the following month, he falsely denied receiving any financial
help from Miyazaki for his daughter's overseas education at a hearing of the
House of Councillors Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to the
ruling.
Uemura said Moriya participated in golf outings with Yamada
officials from around 1994. Moriya used false names to play golf, the judge
said, stressing that his act is considered extremely vicious, given the
large number of such outings, the total amount of money spent and other
factors related to the golf tours.
Moriya met with senior officials of a foreign defense equipment
maker and made remarks that favored Miyazaki, Uemura said.
The former top defense bureaucrat also ordered his junior
colleagues to consider buying specific equipment, including an engine for a
new destroyer of the Maritime Self-Defense-Force, in hopes of supporting
Miyazaki, he also said.
Moriya served as vice defense minister from Aug. 1, 2003, to Aug.
31, 2007. The bribery scandal came to light in October 2007.
While in office, Moriya exerted strong leadership on issues such as
the U.S. military realignment in Japan, the dispatch of Ground SDF troops to
Iraq on a reconstruction mission, and the Defense Agency's upgrade to full
ministry status.
