Ex-senior vice justice minister indicted for breach of election law

Japanese lawmaker Mito Kakizawa was indicted Wednesday for violation of the election law, prosecutors said, following the former Liberal Democratic Party member’s arrest over illegal campaign financing allegations related to a Tokyo ward election last April.

The 52-year-old former senior vice justice minister and his four secretaries, who were also arrested on Dec. 28, initially denied that the money they offered ahead of the Koto Ward mayoral election was intended as a bribe but later admitted the allegations, sources close to the matter said.

The indictment of the House of Representatives member could further fuel public distrust in politics, delivering a blow to the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his ruling party, which has already been jolted by a separate political funds scandal involving the LDP’s biggest faction.