Attorneys for former Construction Minister Kishiro Nakamura, accused of receiving 10 million yen in bribes from a construction company, pleaded innocent on his behalf Monday before the Tokyo High Court, claiming a lower court "mistook the facts."

In the opening trial hearing, Shinji Kiyoyama, 73, former vice president of Kajima Corp., also pleaded not guilty to providing money to Nakamura, 50, who is currently serving as an independent Lower House member while appealing his 18-month prison sentence and 10 million yen fine.

According to the Tokyo District Court, Kiyoyama asked Nakamura to pressure the Fair Trade Commission into not pressing criminal charges against Kajima and other construction firms for alleged bid-rigging on public works contracts in Saitama Prefecture.

But Nakamura's counsel rebutted the ruling, saying Kiyoyama did not need to ask Nakamura to pressure the commission because the politician knew the case would be settled politically and the FTC would not press charges.

The lawyers also questioned the creditability of testimony by Setsuo Umezawa, a former chief of the FTC, who told the district court that Nakamura pressured him to drop charges, because they said he had cooperated with investigative bodies as part of political negotiations.

Because Umezawa's testimony is the only basis for a guilty verdict due to a lack of concrete evidence by the prosecution, the lower court ruling should be annulled, they said.

The defense team repeated its claim by saying the 10 million yen Nakamura received was a political donation from construction firms for their client's "vitality."

Kiyoyama was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for four years, in October 1997 by the district court.