The former chairman of Japanese publisher Kadokawa has sued the government for damages, saying that it is unconstitutional to detain him for months when he insisted on innocence in a Tokyo Olympic bribery case.
Former Chairman Kadokawa Tsuguhiko stated at a news conference on Thursday that he has filed a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court, asking the government to pay 220 million yen, or about 1.3 million dollars, in damages.
The 80-year-old man is awaiting trial for allegedly giving 69 million yen, or about 430,000 dollars, from 2019 to 2021, to a former board member of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Organizing Committee. He purportedly paid the money in return for a favor that the publisher would be chosen as a sponsor for the 2021 Games.
Kadokawa has maintained his innocence all along.
According to his lawsuit, he was held at a Tokyo detention center for seven months, from September 2022 until his release on bail in April 2023.
A court denied his defense team’s request for his release three times on grounds that he could destroy evidence.
He stated that he was a victim of a Japanese practice in which a suspect who insists on innocence will be held in detention for a long period of time. He said the practice is a violation of the Constitution that states no person should be detained without adequate cause.
According to the lawsuit, Kadokawa has chronic arrhythmia, and his health deteriorated during his time in detention, falling unconscious sometimes.
Kadokawa stated that he was in danger of dying a number of times, but the detention center, the prosecutors, and the judge ignored his plea for release.
Kadokawa said at the news conference that he hopes the court will examine the problem with this practice, and issue a landmark ruling.