Former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai and his lawmaker wife Anri Kawai on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges of vote buying during the latter's campaign to be elected to Japan's upper house last summer.
Katsuyuki Kawai, a House of Representatives member known for having close ties to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, admitted at his first hearing at the Tokyo District Court to distributing money to people, but said, "It was not meant to ask them to vote or gather votes."
He has been indicted on charges of violating the election law by handing out cash to politicians and supporters in Hiroshima Prefecture to reward them for votes secured in the campaign to get his wife elected in July 2019.
Since none of the local politicians who allegedly received cash has been indicted, Kawai asked for the trial to be dismissed, saying that the prosecutors had conducted plea bargains in order to receive testimonies in their favor.
Anri Kawai said she "never conspired with my husband or handed out cash to get elected," adding that the money her husband gave out was for the purpose of expressing support for people running in local elections or to congratulate those who won seats.
The two were arrested by Tokyo prosecutors in June and indicted the following month, dealing a blow to the Abe administration which has recently seen its popularity wane over its handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The couple filed their requests for bail with the district court after the first hearing, their lawyers said.
According to the indictment, the 57-year-old former minister doled out about 29 million yen ($270,000) among 100 people, including local politicians in the prefecture, between March and August last year with the intention of securing votes.
Anri Kawai, 46, is accused of conspiring with him on 1.7 million yen worth of cash handouts to five individuals between March and June last year.
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During the hearing, prosecutors said Kawai had managed every aspect of his wife's election campaign, and had asked for support from local politicians and others "without considering how it appeared."
The prosecutors also stated that Kawai had created on his computer a list of payments he made in regard to the election, but had later deleted it.
While the Public Offices Election Law urges courts to swiftly deliver rulings on election-related allegations, typically within 100 days from the indictment, the trial is expected to take longer due to the large number of witnesses that are set to be called.
The couple have been held at the Tokyo Detention House since their June 18 arrest and their requests to be released on bail have been rejected twice, making the court appearance the first time they have seen each other in more than two months.
The Kawais, who have both already resigned from Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party over the scandal, will lose their seats in parliament if they are found guilty and the rulings are finalized.
Also on Tuesday, the Hiroshima High Court held the first hearing of an appeals trial for Anri Kawai's former aide Hiroshi Tatemichi, who was found guilty at a lower court in June of bribing her election campaigners.
Tatemichi, 54, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for five years, by the Hiroshima District Court and appealed the decision.
In the election, Anri Kawai, a former prefectural assembly member, won one of the two seats in the Hiroshima constituency where a fellow LDP candidate, the then-incumbent veteran Kensei Mizote, also ran, unsuccessfully.
