Murakami out on parole before end of prison term

UTSUNOMIYA, Tochigi Pref. (Kyodo) Former Labor Minister Masakuni Murakami was released Wednesday on parole before the end of his 26-month prison term for taking bribes.

Masakuni Murakami

A former Upper House member from the Liberal Democratic Party, Murakami, 77, was imprisoned in May 2008 after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal. He has consistently maintained his innocence.

He was convicted of receiving ¥50 million in 1996 from Tadao Koseki, then head of the mutual aid organization KSD, in return for asking questions in the Upper House that benefited the group, and ¥22.8 million in rent from KSD for his office from 1996 to 1998.

A taciturn Murakami left the prison in Tochigi Prefecture at around 8 a.m. in the back seat of a white minivan that came to pick him up.