Deputy gov. fined over Japan foreign minister-linked election case

Yamaguchi Deputy Gov. Kazuhiko Komatsu was fined 300,000 yen ($2,600) on Friday for recruiting supporters for Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi over the October general election in violation of the election law.Komatsu paid the fine after prosecutors in the western prefecture issued a summary indictment on Friday, a day after police referred the case to prosecutors. He told reporters he had handed in his resignation, which was later accepted by the government.According to the indictment, Komatsu solicited prefectural government officials to join the political support group of Haya…READ FULL ARTICLE