| Jiji
Jiji
Mar 26, 2025
Kobe –
Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito apologized to prefectural government workers on Wednesday, after a third-party panel last week found that his prefecture's actions to identify a whistleblower accusing him of harassment violated the whistleblower protection law.
"I sincerely apologize for causing discomfort and burdens to staff," Saito said at the prefectural assembly.
But he later denied the illegality of the actions to identify the whistleblower in a news conference at the prefectural office in Kobe, saying that they were appropriate.
The panel said that the prefecture's actions were illegal and that the punitive dismissal given to the whistleblower was invalid. It identified 10 cases of harassment by Saito.
Saito told reporters that he "takes seriously" the panel's acknowledgement of harassment, but expressed "doubts" about the panel recognizing the complaint against the governor as whistleblowing.
"There is no change to my understanding that it was highly libelous," Saito said of the document containing the complaint against him, refusing to revoke the punitive dismissal.
"Creating a more open working environment is my way of taking responsibility," he added.
The panel's findings came after a special investigative committee of the prefectural assembly said that the prefecture's actions to identify the whistleblower were "highly likely to be illegal" and that the harassment allegations were "largely true."
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