Sato pleads innocent to bribery

Former Fukushima Gov. Eisaku Sato, 67, and his brother pleaded innocent Thursday to charges of taking bribes in 2002 from contractors that had worked on a dam construction project ordered by the prefecture.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070622a2a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='353'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Former Fukushima Gov. Eisaku Sato –

and his brother, Yuji (center back), enter the Tokyo District Court for the Thursday start of their bribery trial. KYODO PHOTO

The ex-five-term governor told the Tokyo District Court during his first trial session that he was unaware of any shady dealings and could not grasp why he was being prosecuted.