The Tokyo District Court said Friday it will not admit as evidence key depositions of former aides of ex-Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa, who stands accused of violating the Political Funds Control Law, and slammed prosecutors' interrogations as "illegal."
Interrogation records of lawmaker Tomohiro Ishikawa, one of the ex-aides, were regarded as important evidence for the court-appointed lawyers serving as prosecutors to prove allegations that Ozawa conspired with his former secretaries to make false entries in the financial reports for his political funds management body Rikuzankai in 2004 and 2005.
But Ishikawa later denied Ozawa was involved and testified at the trial of his boss that he was forced to make the admissions during interrogations.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.