Japan lawmaker Anri Kawai found guilty of vote-buying in 2019 election

House of Councillors member Anri Kawai was sentenced Thursday to a year and four months in prison, suspended for five years, for buying votes in the 2019 upper house election.The Tokyo District Court ruled that Kawai, 47, distributed money to local legislators in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, in violation of the Public Offices Election Law. If the ruling is finalized, she will lose her status as a lawmaker."It harmed the fairness of elections, which are the basis of democracy," said Presiding Judge Yasuaki Takahashi regarding the impact of the case on Japanese society.The court, howe…READ FULL ARTICLE