EDITORIAL: Ozawa's indictment

Former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa was indicted Monday on charges of violating the Political Fund Control Law.

The indictment followed a second decision by a prosecution inquest committee insisting that Ozawa should face trial over questionable political fund reports. Ordinary citizens have forced a senior political figure to face trial as a criminal defendant.

Given that prosecutors dropped the case against Ozawa, the outcome of his trial is anybody's guess.

Prosecutors monopolized the power to prosecute criminal cases for a long time. They have made some notable mistakes, including the wrongful prosecution in the 1990 Ashikaga murder case, but in general they have taken a very careful line. Prosecutors have stuck to a policy of only pursuing cases when defendants are almost certain to be found guilty. As a result, 99 percent of cases prosecuted have led to conviction.

This approach has been recognized to have some merits, but it has turned trials into mere formalities. The enormous power vested in prosecutors has bred a culture of self-righteousness within the profession.

The prosecution inquest committee system, which allows panels of ordinary citizens to force the prosecution of cases dropped by prosecutors, has changed the status quo.

For the first time, citizens have been given an opportunity to question whether the prosecutors' criteria for making decisions, and their actual decisions on specific cases, are really in line with common sense and the people's idea of justice.

The Ozawa case has raised some important questions about the way prosecutors interpret and apply the Political Fund Control Law.

Traditionally, prosecutors have made it a rule not to prosecute cases of untruthful political fund reports unless they involve serious offenses like illegal political donations. They have also followed the principle that they need rock-solid evidence to hold politicians, rather than their aides, accountable for such reporting irregularities.

In contrast, the inquest committee took a tougher stance toward the kind of slipshod reporting that turns the law's provision to ensure "constant monitoring and criticism by the public" into a dead letter.

By placing importance on transparency in the flow of political funds, the panel has put the related statements made by Ozawa's aides under fresh scrutiny, even though prosecutors didn't regard the statements as evidence supporting Ozawa's involvement in the false reporting.

It is too early to predict what kind of judgment the court will make on these issues. The court may reject the argument made by the lawyers designated to prosecute the case following the committee's decision. It is also necessary to give consideration to the burden imposed on the accused.

But the mandatory indictment of Ozawa has considerable significance for Japan's democratic system and its judiciary. It has made certain that doubts and questions raised by the people will be addressed in the public arena of the court. We should follow the trial calmly without the presumption that the indictment necessarily means the defendant is guilty.

The case has also raised some issues that lawmakers need to address swiftly.

The current system permits politicians to entrust fund reporting entirely to their aides and other people. The system should be reformed to raise politicians' awareness and make their responsibility clear. One potentially effective step would be requiring politicians to sign these documents.

Ozawa said he will not leave the DPJ, stressing the difference between indictment by prosecutors and the mandatory indictment decided by the citizens' committee. We have been deeply disappointed at his repeated attempts to avoid facing up to public criticism, making whatever argument suits his needs at any particular time.

Fighting a court battle is one thing; fulfilling the responsibility of a politician is another. If Ozawa can't even explain himself before the Diet, he should take political responsibility for the infractions.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 1