A Japanese court on Thursday sentenced former ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Mito Kakizawa to two years in prison, suspended for five years, for an illegal campaign finance offense related to a Tokyo ward election in April last year.The Tokyo District Court ruling said the former senior vice justice minister made payments, or offered to do so, totaling some 2.8 million yen ($19,000) to 10 people including incumbent assembly members that constituted bribes in connection with the Koto Ward mayoral election, in which a candidate he backed won."His criminal acts were malicious crimes …READ FULL ARTICLE
