A Komeito prefectural assemblyman was expelled from the party and forced to resign from his post for his “shameful behavior.
The voyeurism was discovered during the service.
On December 5, at the beginning of a plenary session of the Tokushima Prefectural Assembly, a vote was held on an application for the resignation of former prefectural assembly member Hiroshi Furukawa, 64, which had been submitted the previous night, and the vote passed unanimously.
It was reported on November 1 that Furukawa intended to resign.
On the night of the 28th, Furukawa stayed at a business hotel in Akasaka. He called a woman in her 20s from a dispatch-type sex store to his room. However, during the service, the woman noticed a sound like pressing the video still button, and it was discovered that Gen Furukawa was taking hidden pictures with his smartphone. The phone was placed in a position where the woman could not see it, and it is believed that the sound was made when she tried to stop filming.
The woman contacted the store, and the store reported the incident to the police. Former prefectural assemblyman Furukawa is said to have admitted the charge, saying, ‘I am sure that I took a picture with my smartphone. Videos of other women were also found on the phone, and since he stated that he had done the same thing several times in the past, it is likely that he will be pursued for other crimes as well.
Formerly a representative of the Komeito Party’s Tokushima Prefectural Headquarters, Furukawa was elected three times to the Tokushima electoral district (Tokushima City and Meito County). He was also the chairman of the Tokushima Prefectural Assembly of the New Komeito Party.
On the day of his arrest, Komeito Secretary General Minoruji Nishida issued the following statement of apology It is unusual for other parties to have the secretary general of the party’s headquarters issue a statement in response to the misconduct of a local councilor.
This case is a serious criminal charge that is extremely unethical and violates human rights, and in light of the platform and code of conduct that Komeito members are required to observe as members of the party, as well as the code of political ethics that should serve as a model for the public, it must be said that this is an act that seriously damages the reputation of the party.
Former prefectural assemblyman Furukawa was expelled from the Komeito as of December 1, but it was revealed that he was released the same day “because his request for detention was rejected. Does his release mean that he is acquitted? According to Koichiro Matsui, an attorney at ATOM Law Office, “It means that the court did not recognize the necessity of the suspect’s detention, so he was released from custody.
Prosecution or non-prosecution has not been decided at this time.
The decision will be made based on a comprehensive evaluation of the case, including whether or not there is a risk of escape or destruction of evidence, the seriousness of the case, and other factors. This is a different procedure from an indictment, and the investigation itself will continue as a home case after the release. At this point, it has not been decided whether to prosecute or not.
If a settlement is reached between the suspect and the victim, the case will most likely be dropped, and if no settlement is reached, the case will most likely end with a fine.
Some people on the Internet have questioned this case , asking, “Is it a crime to take hidden photographs of a sex worker while she is providing services? Although voyeurism is usually prohibited in brothels, some delicatessens allow their customers to take video or other images as an option. In addition, so-called “voyeurism” is generally thought of as “sneaking a picture of something that is not normally visible, such as a change of clothes or bathing, and taking a hidden picture of it. Is it also against the law to secretly photograph a person’s naked partner, for example?
The crime of photographing sexual acts is widely punished by
Rather than ‘something that is normally not visible,’
Although there is a possibility that the charges will be dropped, Furukawa has lost all of his standing as a member of the Diet, even though he is a public figure as a prefectural assemblyman. Even if he had not been a public figure as a prefectural assembly member, there is no doubt that he has committed an unforgivable crime.
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PHOTO： Shinji Hasuo