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2021 December 15 - 21 [POLITICS]

Gov’t forcibly terminates lawsuit over suicide of ex-Finance Ministry official who was forced to falsify ‘Moritomo’-related documents

Akahata ‘current’ column

The curtain was suddenly drawn on a damage lawsuit filed by the wife of ex-Finance Ministry Kinki Finance Bureau official Akagi Toshio looking into why he had killed himself.

Akagi was allegedly driven to suicide after being forced to falsify documents related to the “Moritomo” scandal which involved former Prime Minister Abe and his wife Akie. In the lawsuit, Akagi’s wife demanded that the government fully explain how and why the falsification was made. The government made an about-face change in its attitude and accepted the wife’s claim for damages in order to put an end to the lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, the government denied the existence of the so-called “Akagi file” which contains information regarding the falsification of the “Moritomo”-related documents. In June, the file was released in response to the plaintiff’s request, which heightened her expectation to have the whole truth disclosed. However, the government’s latest decision is tantamount to shutting down further investigations by the court. Akagi’s wife, Masako, criticized the government for acting like a coward and said, “It’s not about the money. My husband was killed again by the government.”

It was five and a half years ago when the “Moritomo” scandal surfaced in which national land was sold to the Moritomo Gakuen school corporation at a massive 8-million-yen discount off the market price. The involvement of former PM Abe and his wife in the scandal was frequently brought up in the Diet. However, with organizational cover-up efforts under the Abe administration, the truth behind the scandal was almost swept under the rug. Under this situation, Akagi’s wife sued the government for the purpose of honoring her husband’s last wish in which he had wanted to make public the facts to prevent a recurrence.

Although the act of forging official documents destroys public trust in government, why such acts are overlooked and what lies behind such wrongdoing need to be addressed. The continuing struggle against the government’s moves to cover up inconvenient facts will contribute to putting the nation on the right track toward transparency in public matters.

Past related articles:
> Abe gov’t sued for suicide of ex-Finance Ministry official who was forced to falsify ‘Moritomo’-related documents[March 19, 2020]
> Abe still held responsible to explain fully about ‘Moritomo’ scandal [February 22, 2020]