Strict action needed to reform prosecutors

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 25, 2010)
Strict action needed to reform prosecutors
大阪地検特捜部　組織的隠蔽の批判は免れない（9月24日付・読売社説）

The latest revelation concerning the alleged tampering of evidence by a prosecutor from the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office may imply an organizationwide attempt to cover up a surefire scandal.
　大阪地検は組織ぐるみで疑惑を隠蔽(いんぺい)していたということではないか。

The case in question involves a head prosecutor from the Osaka office's special investigation squad who has been accused of altering potential evidence seized during investigations into a case of alleged postal fraud. It has become known that the investigative unit was informed that its lead prosecutor had possibly falsified data, and that this finding was reported to top officials at the district prosecutors office.
　郵便不正事件の捜査の過程で、大阪地検特捜部が主任検事による押収資料の改ざんの可能性を把握し、地検上層部にも報告していたことが明らかになった。

A task force from the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office set up to investigate this scandal has questioned two key figures who supervised the prosecutor in question: a high-ranking prosecutor who headed the investigation unit at the time, and another senior prosecutor who was the team's deputy chief.
　最高検の捜査チームは、主任検事の上司だった当時の特捜部長や副部長から事情聴取した。

It must be clarified why senior officials from the district prosecutors office failed to act when they received information about what may constitute the crime of destruction of evidence. The task force must thoroughly investigate the case to get to the bottom of the scandal, while determining who should take the blame if there was indeed a cover-up.
　証拠隠滅という犯罪を疑わせるに足る重大な情報を、地検幹部はなぜ放置していたのか。徹底した捜査で真相究明と関与者すべての責任を追及する必要がある。

Sketchy conduct high to low

In February, some officials of the district prosecutors office, including the head of the investigation squad, received reports that the team's lead prosecutor might have rewritten data on a floppy disk confiscated from the home of a former section chief at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
　厚生労働省の元係長宅から押収したフロッピーディスクのデータを、主任検事が書き換えたらしいという情報を特捜部長らが把握したのは、今年２月頃だった。

At the time, the prosecutor in question reportedly told a colleague he had planted a "time bomb" on the disk.
　主任検事は当時、「ディスクに時限爆弾を仕掛けた」と、他の検事に漏らしていたという。

However, after the prosecutor told the head of the investigation unit and other senior officials that his alteration of the data "was not deliberate," they seem to have done little to uncover the truth behind his conduct.
　ところが特捜部長らは、主任検事から「故意ではない」との説明を受けると、それ以上踏み込んだ調査をしなかった。

Questions also must be raised about how the head of the investigative team described the prosecutor's action when he reported on the alleged data alteration to the Osaka office's chief prosecutor. He reportedly said the prosecutor's conduct would pose "no problem."
　また、特捜部長は検事正に対し、資料の改ざんを巡る情報があったが「問題はなかった」という趣旨の報告をしたとされる。

We feel the prosecutor's description of his action as a "time bomb" should have been sufficient to arouse suspicion that the falsification was deliberate. If the investigative team leader swallowed the explanation that the alteration "was not deliberate," he should be brought to task for being too lenient with his subordinates and for his lack of skill in dealing with the matter.
　「時限爆弾を仕掛けた」という発言は、主任検事の意図的な改ざんを疑わせるに十分な例えだったのではないか。「故意ではない」との説明を、うのみにしていたのであれば、身内に甘い、あまりにもお粗末な対応である。

It is also questionable why the Osaka office's chief prosecutor had no reservations about the investigation team's report on the affair. It seems to us that as the head of the prosecutors office, his actions lacked urgency. He should have instructed the special investigative unit to further look into the prosecutor's conduct.
　検事正も、特捜部の報告に、何ら疑問を抱かなかったのだろうか。地検トップとしての危機意識に欠けていたと言わざるを得ない。特捜部に対し、さらなる調査を指示するべきだったろう。

Act firmly to restore trust

The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office should investigate the depth to which senior officials at the district prosecutors office were aware of the alleged data tampering. If their action--or inaction, for that matter--is found to violate any laws, the top prosecutors office should deal sternly with them, possibly even pursuing criminal charges.
　最高検は、特捜部長をはじめとする地検幹部が、改ざんの事実関係をどの程度まで認識していたのかを調べ、仮に法に触れる行為が確認されれば、立件も辞さない覚悟で臨んでもらいたい。

The latest scandal has prompted some Democratic Party of Japan members to say the prosecutor general--the person in charge of all prosecutors in the country--should step down. They are also seeking to have all interrogations during criminal investigations videotaped.
　今回の事件を受けて、民主党内からは検事総長の進退問題に言及したり、取り調べの全面可視化を求めたりする動きが出ている。

The scandal could arouse questions about related matters, including the credibility of depositions taken from suspects in other cases handled by the Osaka special investigation squad.
　今後、特捜部が手がけた他の事件についても、供述調書の信用性などを疑問視する声が強まる可能性がある。

Prosecutors must uncover the truth behind the data-tampering scandal, and fully present their findings to the public. They also must reexamine every aspect of their probe into the alleged abuse of the postal discount system.
　今必要なのは、主任検事による資料改ざん事件の全容を解明し、国民に速やかに公表することだ。郵便不正事件の捜査全般の検証も怠ってはならない。

Prosecutors must demonstrate they have what it takes to root out corruption among themselves to restore the trust they have lost. Doing so is the only way to resurrect the prosecution as an investigative organization.
　組織の自浄能力を示すことが、失墜した信頼を取り戻し、検察が再生する唯一の道だろう。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 24, 2010)
（2010年9月24日03時01分 読売新聞）