Regarding the Oct. 15 article "Moriya asks for leniency over bribes": I find it hard to understand why former Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya believes he should receive a suspended sentence. He didn't seem to have any problem taking millions of yen in kickbacks from a defense equipment trader in order to "reward" them with "special favors," nor did it stop him from lying about the "golf outings and cash gifts" he received. Did Moriya believe this was the proper way to do his job?
I find it amusing that his lawyers "sought a suspended sentence by rattling off a list of extenuating circumstances" that the court should "take into consideration." What kind of "circumstances" would make it acceptable to take a bribe? And his wife is "suffering from depression" and "seeking medical support?" So what? Why should we care?
Government officials must be held to a higher standard, simply by virtue of what they are supposed to be doing for their countrymen. It's great that Moriya "apologized," but frankly it's too late. If the judges cave in and show leniency, they will once again prove that all that any guilty party has to do is offer a dramatic, teary-eyed "gomen nasai" and everything is forgiven. (Sentencing is scheduled Nov. 5.)
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