Ozawa to face indictment soon

TOKYO, Jan. 18 Kyodo -
Ruling party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa refused Tuesday to submit to questioning over
alleged accounting irregularities, his defense counsel said, raising the
likelihood that the former Democratic Party of Japan leader will face mandatory
indictment over the matter as early as this week.
Ozawa's defense team notified court-appointed lawyers who are acting as
prosecutors of his refusal.
As the written notice mentions no reasons for the refusal, the ''prosecutors''
concluded that there is no room left for negotiations with the defense counsel,
sources familiar with the matter said.
Ozawa, a 68-year-old longtime power broker in Japanese politics, could be
indicted possibly this week if the ''prosecutors'' determine that it is not
necessary to make any more requests for questioning.
He will be indicted as a judicial panel comprising citizens announced last
October for the second and last time that he must be charged as his involvement
in the misreporting is strongly suspected, following decisions by prosecutors
not to do so due to a lack of evidence.
Under the inquest of prosecution law, court-appointed lawyers will assume the
role of prosecutors and file criminal charges against him.
Ozawa, who has denied any wrongdoing, will be charged with violating the
Political Funds Control Law for the alleged false reporting by his political
funds management body, called Rikuzankai, in 2004 and 2005, of some 340 million
yen it spent to purchase land in Tokyo and failure to book 400 million yen it
received in loans from Ozawa.
Ozawa's defense team rejected the court-appointed lawyers' request for
voluntary questioning, determining that the politician is not obliged to do so
as he is in almost the same position as a criminal defendant.
Earlier this year, the ''prosecutors'' asked Ozawa's defense team for an
opportunity to question him. The defense counsel then asked them in writing to
clarify questions and a method of questioning in advance, the sources said.
Dissatisfied with the lawyers' reply received Monday, the defense team decided
to reject their request for voluntary questioning.
The court-appointed lawyers had initially planned to decide on whether to
question Ozawa after hearing his testimony before a parliamentary ethics panel,
but asked him to submit to questioning as the schedule for his testimony
remains unclear.
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office questioned Ozawa on a voluntary
basis four times but decided not to indict him.
Three former secretaries of Ozawa have been indicted in connection with the
scandal, including House of Representatives lawmaker Tomohiro Ishikawa. The
court-appointed lawyers sought to question the three but in vain.
==Kyodo