Japan: Prosecutors decide not to indict ex-PM Shinzo Abe over dinner party scandal

Japanese law enforcement officers have decided not to indict former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over a political scandal where members of his party paid for a high-profile dinner for his supporters. Reinvestigation of the matter started after the Tokyo No. 1 Committee demanded prosection over the dinner party scandal. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad stated that they did not find any proof in the investigation and judged that Abe was not found guilty anywhere, and the reinvestigation has now ended against the former PM, reported Kyodo News.

Earlier, in July this year, the inquest committee had accused Abe of violations of the election law and the Political Fund Control Law as his office covered shortfalls in a dinner party. The inquest panel committee found that prosecutors' decision to not indict Abe was wrong, a reinvestigation into the matter started. According to Kyodo News, the dinner party cost around 23 million yen ($200,000) over a five-year period. The amount spent on a lavish dinner party that was held in a Tokyo hotel was much more than the amount collected from attendees, including the voters of Abe's constituency in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan.

Japan: Ex-PM Shinzo Abe will not be indicted over dinner party scandal

As per the charge against Abe, the guests who attended the dinner party paid 5000 yen ($43.52) as an entrance fee, but the rest of the amount was paid by Abe's office. Earlier, in December last year, the prosecution team decided to indict Abe's former first secretary, who was a popular leader in his party. Abe's administration was accused of not showing a large number of expenses in the yearly political fund reports between 2016 and 2019. However, due to a lack of evidence, Abe will not be indicted over the accusations.

Notably, there is one point that raises concern in regard to violations of the Public Offices Election Law that includes a donation to voters that is prohibited under the law. The panel decided that covering the cost of the dinner party should be treated as a violation. While Another point that concerned Abe's failure is the lack of supervision over the finances of the political organization that Abe heads, which would constitute a clear violation of the Political Fund Control Law.

The panel stated that the investigation had not been done thoroughly after the prosecutors again questioned the attendees and even reviewed the documents again. But participants said that they did not receive any donations.

Image: AP