Dec 03 (NHK) - Complaints against Hyogo Governor Saito Motohiko and the representative of a PR company have been filed with prosecutors and police in western Japan over a possible violation of the public offices election law.
Lawyer Gohara Nobuo and Kobe Gakuin University Professor Kamiwaki Hiroshi say they sent the complaints to the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office and the Hyogo prefectural police on Sunday.
Saito was reelected as governor last month.
After the election, the PR company's representative wrote on a website that the firm handled the strategic planning of social media operations for the campaign.
Gohara and Kamiwaki say the payment Saito made to the firm may have been a reward for its online election campaigning activity. They argue that this could be considered bribery.
The public offices election law prohibits the payment of rewards to individuals who conduct election campaigns online.
Last week, Saito and his lawyer expressed their view that there were no illegalities in the election campaign. They said the payment was a reward for tasks allowed by law, including producing posters. They said Saito's office and other entities were primarily responsible for the social media operations, and the PR firm's representative took part as a volunteer.
So far, the representative has not issued any statements on the issue.
Source: ANN
