18 months in prison demanded for lawmaker
Tokyo prosecutors have demanded 18 months in prison for lawmaker Kawai Anri on charges of buying votes to win a seat in an Upper House election last year.
The defendant and her husband Kawai Katsuyuki, a former justice minister and Lower House member, were indicted for bribery. The couple pled not guilty.
In her trial on Tuesday, prosecutors stressed that the crime was unprecedentedly malicious as the two were in a position to restrain themselves as a candidate and an incumbent Lower House member.
The prosecutors said Kawai Anri committed the crime because she expected a tough election after failing to win support from the Hiroshima prefectural chapter of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. They described her motive as extremely selfish.