THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

KOBE—A prefectural committee investigating a whistleblower document that claimed Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito in his first term had engaged in power harassment and improperly accepted gifts has refuted some of his claims that they were a "pack of lies."

In addition, the Hyogo prefectural assembly’s special investigative committee, which is called the Article 100 Committee, concluded that prefectural leaders likely violated the whistleblower protection law in its treatment of the accuser.

Kenichi Okutani, chairman of the special investigation committee, said, “We strongly request that Governor Saito take the contents of the report seriously and fulfill his accountability to the people of Hyogo Prefecture to resolve the confusion and division in the prefecture triggered by the document issue as soon as possible.”

The report was unanimously approved by the committee members.

The committee will submit its report to a plenary session of the prefectural assembly on March 5.

The committee was set up under the Article 100 of the Local Autonomy Law, which grants it strong authority. However, its reports and recommendations are not legally binding.

A document of accusation was sent anonymously to some media outlets in March 2024 by the head of the prefectural government’s branch office in charge of the Nishi-Harima region, who was later found dead in an apparent suicide.

The document mentioned “seven allegations” against Saito and others.

The committee concluded...

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