Former Japanese Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai was sentenced Friday to three years in prison and a forfeiture of 1.3 million yen ($12,000) in a high-profile case over buying votes for his wife in the 2019 upper house election.Dismissing Kawai's claim of partial innocence, the Tokyo District Court ruled that he handed out a total of 28.7 million yen to 100 local assembly members and supporters in his wife Anri's constituency in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan."It is an extremely malicious crime that significantly undermined a fair election, the foundation of democracy," Presiding Judge…READ FULL ARTICLE
