The Tokyo No. 6 Committee for Inquest of Prosecution on Thursday announced its decision that Hiromu Kurokawa, former chief of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, "should be indicted" in connection with a mahjong betting scandal involving him and three newspaper reporters.
In a written resolution dated Dec. 8, panel members explained the decision, saying they particularly placed weight on the fact that Kurokawa betrayed the trust of society while bearing a heavy responsibility. The panel also concluded that it is inappropriate not to indict the three others in the case.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office had previously decided not to indict Kurokawa, 63, two Sankei Shimbun reporters and a former Asahi Shimbun reporter over gambling offenses.
In response to the panel's resolution, prosecutors will reinvestigate the case to decide on the handling of the four. However, even if the case against Kurokawa is dropped again, he will be forcibly indicted when the panel votes again for his indictment.
According to the prosecutors, the four men played mahjong for money at the home of a Sankei reporter on four occasions in April and May when the nation was under a state of emergency in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
The prosecutors office had ruled that it was a pastime among old acquaintances and decided to suspend indictments of the four, taking into account the fact that Kurokawa resigned from his post, and the three reporters were disciplined due to the scandal.
The panel criticized the prosecutors' decision, saying, "As long as Kurokawa was in a position that he should be aware of the penal laws and regulations, and also control and deter gambling, the decision to suspend his indictment is wrong."
Regarding the three reporters, the panel said, "It is unclear why and under what circumstances the three people to whom Kurokawa is a subject to their news gathering activities were regularly engaged in playing mahjong for money" and demanded a new investigation into the case.
Hiroshi Yamamoto, deputy chief prosecutor of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, said, "We would like to take appropriate action after carefully examining the contents of the resolution and conducting the necessary investigation."
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