Tokyo's No. 1 Inquest of Prosecution Committee, an independent judicial panel composed of 11 citizens, said in its decision dated July 8 that the prosecution's decision not to indict former Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa in connection with the alleged false reporting on political funds by his funds management body in 2007 is "unjust." Six or more members of the panel supported the decision.
This means that the prosecution will have to reopen the case. If the prosecution decides again not to indict Mr. Ozawa, the process will end. In view of the investigation so far, it is likely that the prosecution will not indict him. But the committee's decision shows citizens' sentiment that they cannot fully trust Mr. Ozawa due to the political funds problem revolving around ¥400 million he borrowed from a bank and lent to his fund management body in the fall of 2004 to buy land. He should seriously think how to regain people's trust.
His suspected involvement in the money and politics problem has been the Achilles' heel of Mr. Ozawa, who wielded power in the DPJ and influenced some important government decisions. The July 15 announcement of the panel's decision came as a blow not only to Mr. Ozawa but also to the DPJ.