Muneo ally loses final court appeal

Masaru Sato, dubbed "the Rasputin of the Foreign Ministry," has lost his final appeal against a suspended prison term for misusing state funds and interfering in bidding for an aid project in the disputed Northern Territories.

The Supreme Court said the conviction should stand for the 49-year-old bureaucrat, who once consorted with powerful figures in Moscow while closely allied to Muneo Suzuki, 61, a Lower House member who enjoyed enormous power at the ministry before his own downfall.

Sato was one of several people close to Suzuki who were indicted in cases linked to the politician. Suzuki was also investigated, and subsequently sentenced to two years in prison for taking bribes. He is still appealing the conviction, which was most recently upheld by the Tokyo High Court.

The decision in the Sato case, dated Tuesday, effectively finalizes the sentence of two and half years, suspended for four years, issued and upheld by lower courts.

Sato had worked as an intelligence analyst and a Russian affairs expert at the ministry. He earned the "Rasputin" moniker--a reference to the Russian monk Grigori Rasputin--for his supposedly pernicious influence over ministry dealings with Russia.

The real Rasputin is said to have wielded an unnatural influence over the wife of Russia's last czar, Nicholas II.

Prosecutors accused Sato of committing a breach of trust at the behest of Suzuki. Sato insists he was set up so prosecutors could nail Suzuki.

According to court documents, Sato misappropriated about 33.5 million yen from Shien Iinkai (Cooperation committee), a Foreign Ministry-affiliated organization that supports residents in the Northern Territories, to pay for expenses incurred during the stay of an Israeli academic on Russian affairs whom Sato had invited to Japan.

Sato told The Asahi Shimbun on Wednesday that his "understanding is that this is a state-policy investigation and a politically motivated trial, and as such, the outcome was foreseeable."

"If bureaucrats are forced to (unfairly) take criminal responsibility, then nobody will ever take risks," he said.

Suzuki, meanwhile, said he found the outcome "most disappointing.

"I was used by the Foreign Ministry. I have a feeling the ministry took advantage of Sato, too," he said.

Sato was also convicted of leaking information on the bidding process for a committee-commissioned power generation project on Kunashiri island, in the Northern Territories, to officials at trading house Mitsui & Co.

Sato had pleaded not guilty to both charges, but the two lower courts ruled against him after a former Foreign Ministry deputy section chief accused of serving as an accomplice gave evidence against him. The former deputy was also found guilty.

The Supreme Court ruled that Sato did not have sufficient reason for appealing.

Sato has been suspended from work since June 2002, and will likely lose his job when the guilty ruling is finalized in accordance with the National Civil Service Law.

After his arrest in May 2002, he switched to writing and penned an expose detailing behind-the-scenes dealings at the ministry and his experiences during his 512 days in detention.

In a 2005 book, he claimed prosecutors privately admitted to framing him.(IHT/Asahi: July 3,2009)