Lawyers for former House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki told the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday that their client is innocent and the bribery charges against him are politically motivated.
Suzuki, 56, and his defense team presented their final argument against the charge that the former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker received 11 million yen in bribes from two Hokkaido firms in the late 1990s.
"The (prosecutors) investigated the alleged case against Suzuki in line with a government decision to respond to an outburst of public sentiment triggered by media reports that the accused should be politically and socially eliminated," Suzuki's counsel told the day's court session.