Tokyo, Jun 18 (Agency) Tokyo District Court sentenced former Japanese Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai on Friday to three-year imprisonment and fined him 1.3 million yen ($11,800) for buying votes to secure his wife’s election to parliament, national media reported. Prosecutors demanded a four-year prison term and the forfeiture of 1.5 million yen, the Japanese Kyodo news agency reported.
Kawai was indicted for distributing about 29 million yen to 100 local politicians and supporters in the prefecture of Hiroshima in exchange for securing votes for his wife Anri in the House of Councilors election in July 2019. The ex-minister initially denied his guilt, but in the spring of this year began to confess. In January, his wife was sentenced to a year and four months in prison by the Tokyo District Court, and suspended for five years. Throughout her trial, the lawmaker claimed innocence.