<figure id="attachment_357068" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357068" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cdbc91c8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/d716b82d0ecceba2de5510c4e92dc04c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357068" class="wp-caption-text">Haruyuki Takahashi (center), former director of the Organizing Committee for the Games, enters the Tokyo District Court for his first trial in a corruption case involving the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics last December 14. He has consistently pleaded not guilty.</figcaption></figure>
 On January 31, Haruyuki Takahashi, 79, a former director of the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, was charged with bribery in a corruption case involving the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
 In his nearly two-hour opening statement, the defense denied the indictment, claiming that Takahashi did not have the authority to collect sponsors and that the approximately 198 million yen he received from the company was &#8220;compensation for private consulting services, a transaction between the private sector and the public, and not a bribe,&#8221; and asserted his total innocence.
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 The defense attorney&#8217;s voice was sometimes hoarse and difficult to hear as he read his opening statement over a long period of time, and twice during the session he had to moisten his throat with water from a plastic bottle he had brought with him. When he finally finished, the tension in the courtroom had dissipated, and it seemed as if the court was about to adjourn.
 Your Honor!&#8221;
 The defense attorney called out with a forceful voice, and rose from his seat.
 For the defendant, the testimony of former Chairman Mori is the best evidence. Please allow the former chairman to testify.
 This was probably unexpected. One reporter who witnessed the trial revealed, &#8220;The puzzled presiding judge asked the jury, &#8216;What is the best evidence for the defendant?
 The puzzled presiding judge was talking in the ears of the two judges in the jury. I couldn&#8217;t make out the content of the conversation, but after consulting with them, he seemed to limit himself to &#8216;a request from the defense.
 On the other hand, when the prosecution dismissed the case, saying that they had no plans to call Mr. Mori, the defense was stymied.
 The defense was not satisfied. &#8220;Please realize the questioning of the witness as the presiding judge&#8217;s conduct of the case,&#8221; the defense counsel said.
 The trial ended with the presiding judge not expressing a policy in response to this statement. After the court closed, the defense reiterated to the press that it would be unusual for a criminal trial if the witness examination did not take place.
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The defendant and Chairman Mori had dinner together at a steak restaurant."></div>
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<figure id="attachment_357069" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357069" style="width: 974px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="82c965e9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/60057bcb6a5cb84df5ca91b575136d63.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357069" class="wp-caption-text">Haruyuki Takahashi (center), former director of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Organizing Committee, attends a meeting of the committee&#8217;s board of directors in February &#8217;17. On the left is former Chairman Yoshiro Mori.</figcaption></figure>
 The two main points of contention in the opening statements of the prosecution and defense are &#8220;whether Takahashi had the authority to gather sponsors&#8221; and &#8220;whether the money he received was bribes.
 Regarding the first point, &#8220;authority to collect sponsors,&#8221; according to the prosecution, the defendant was entrusted by Chairman Mori to select sponsors, and was authorized to express opinions at board meetings regarding the conclusion of contracts and other matters, and to make marketing-related efforts.
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 The defense states that &#8220;the selection of sponsors was left to Chairman Mori, so he was not entrusted with this task,&#8221; and that the defendant &#8220;once made a proposal, but it was rejected, and Toshiro Muto, the then Secretary General, did not take it seriously, and the defendant did not even argue against it.
 Regarding the second &#8220;bribery,&#8221; the prosecutor stated , &#8220;Knowing that the defendant was a &#8216;deemed public official&#8217; (a person who is not an employee of the national or local government but is engaged in duties that would make him or her a public official) subject to the bribery law, he pretended to be a consultant and used an acquaintance&#8217;s company account as a &#8216;receptacle&#8217; to have cash transferred to his account. The defendant claimed that he received the money with awareness of its illegality.
 In response, the defense denies the allegations as follows.
The defendant, a former senior managing director of Dentsu, has been providing consulting services based on his experience and personal connections. The compensation he received from the company was &#8216;nothing more than a quid pro quo (consultant fee) for his work with Dentsu officials on behalf of the client.
 The two sides are now in direct conflict with each other, and it will be extremely important to see whether or not former Chairman Mori&#8217;s testimony will be realized.
 In June 2002, Takahashi was the last person to sit on the board of directors of the Tokyo Olympics Paralympics Organizing Committee. Mr. Mori, who was president at the time, pushed him in because he was feared as a fixer in the sports world and had connections not only with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) but also with FIFA (International Federation of Football Associations) and the WA (World Association of Athletics Federations), etc. I think both parties had the intention of making their presence known by closing the 35th member. I think that was the intention of both parties.
 Sportswriter Toshiki Tsuda, who has covered the Olympics for a long time and has been observing the trial since the first trial, continues, &#8220;The opening statement by the defense stated that the Olympic Committee was not going to be able to win the Olympic Games.
 As mentioned in the opening statement by the defense, Mori and Takahashi were such good friends that they ate together at a steak restaurant owned by Takahashi. However, when Mr. Takahashi was arrested and indicted, he began to distance himself from him and agreed to be interviewed as a witness by the prosecutors. I am not taking the side of the defense, but Mr. Mori should be called as a witness in court to find out what exactly is the best evidence (evidence for acquittal on all counts). There are still some points in the case that have yet to be clarified.
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 Mori is currently residing in a luxury nursing home in Tokyo, and there are reports that he is in a wheelchair and goes out to watch rugby games.
 The LDP is in turmoil over the issue of slush funds from the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai (Abe Faction), the largest faction in the party. Mori, who has hidden influence as a former prime minister, shows no signs of physical or mental decline as he energetically lobbies the party executive to defend the &#8220;Abe faction of five. Returning from politics to the judiciary, I think that if the witness examination of former Chairman Mori is realized, it will bring us one step closer to the truth. &#8230;&#8230;
<figure id="attachment_357071" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357071" style="width: 2054px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="069f3ace"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/02/5946bf4218bd3e6365de5a4da278c8c9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357071" class="wp-caption-text"> Former Chairman Mori was found in Tokyo on the night of January 12. According to a source, &#8220;He goes to a hospital in Tokyo for dialysis treatment about three times a week,&#8221; but he still shows no signs of decline.</figcaption></figure>

 Kyodo News (1st and 2nd photos) Nishi Keisuke (3rd photo)

 On January 31, Haruyuki Takahashi, a former director of the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, was charged with bribery in a corruption case involving the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. At the end of his opening statement, the defense attorney made an unusual plea. What was the substance of this shocking plea?

Call former Tokyo Olympics Chairman Yoshiro Mori! Haruyuki Takahashi, accused of bribery in the Tokyo Olympics corruption case.

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