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Kobe, March 5 (Jiji Press)--The Hyogo prefectural assembly adopted a report on Wednesday drawn up by a special investigative committee that found the western Japan prefecture's efforts on behalf of Governor Motohiko Saito to identify a whistleblower were almost certainly illegal.
The report, approved by a majority vote at a plenary session of the assembly, found that Saito's rebukes of prefectural officials, mentioned in a document accusing the governor of harassment and other allegations, were "largely true."
"I understand that the prefectural assembly has expressed a certain view," Saito told reporters after the assembly meeting. "I still believe that the responses by the prefectural government and myself were appropriate and legal."
The assembly called on Saito to fulfill his accountability over the issues identified in the report, but the governor reiterated that he had done nothing wrong.
The report said that the document is almost certainly a case of whistleblowing protected under the law. Noting that the Hyogo government's actions, including identifying the former head of a regional branch of the prefectural government as the whistleblower, were most likely in violation of the law, the report concluded that the actions "lacked objectivity and fairness, and were significantly problematic."
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.
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