House of Representatives member Katsuhiko Shirakawa said Sunday his private secretary was being questioned by police in connection with the Niigata prefectural police's latest coverup case.
Shirakawa, 54, a former chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, said at a news conference in Joetsu, Niitata Prefecture, that the private secretary received a 30,000 yen gift certificate for acting as a go-between in the alleged coverup. The secretary was not identified.
Shirakawa, a lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was home affairs minister and chairman of the National Public Safety Commission under the cabinet of then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in November 1996.
He is a vocal opponent of the ruling three-way coalition of the LDP, the Liberal Party and the New Komeito party, demanding the separation of politics and religion in reference to the New Komeito's close association with Soka Gakkai, Japan's largest lay Buddhist organization.