Tokyo top prosecutor quits, justice minister says, in blow to Japan’s Abe

Tokyo’s top prosecutor resigned on Thursday for gambling during Japan’s coronavirus state of emergency, the justice minister said, in another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose support has waned over his handling of the pandemic.

Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office chief Hiromu Kurokawa, who is seen as close to Abe, has been at the centre of a furore over the government’s efforts to raise the retirement age for prosecutors after he was allowed to stay in his post beyond retirement age of 63.

Abe’s government this week abandoned its push to enact a bill during the current session of parliament that would raise prosecutors’ retirement age to 65 from 63, and let the cabinet defer retirement of senior prosecutors for a further three years, a step critics said threatened judicial independence.

Opposition party lawmakers and others also said the legislation was aimed at giving a retroactive legal basis to the decision to keep Kurokawa in his post.

Kurokawa admitted playing mahjong for money on two occasions during the state of emergency, when citizens have been asked to follow social distancing guidelines and avoid unnecessary outings, Justice Minister Masako Mori told reporters. She said the cabinet would approve his resignation on Friday.

“It was truly regrettable,” Mori said.

• Top Tokyo prosecutor offers to resign over reports of gambling

Gambling is illegal in Japan, with some exceptions.

“Naturally, there will be criticism (over Kurokawa),” independent political analyst Atsuo Ito said. “Certainly, it will be damaging.”

Culled from reuter