Japan court sentences former defense minister for bribery News
Japan court sentences former defense minister for bribery

[JURIST] The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday sentenced [Daily Yomiuri report] former Japanese administrative vice defense minister Takemasa Moriya to two and a half years in prison for accepting bribes and committing perjury. In April, Moriya pleaded guilty [Daily Yomiuri report] to accepting approximately $126,000 worth of illegal benefits from military contractor Yamada Corporation [corporate website], and to giving false testimony to conceal the exchanges. He was also ordered to pay fines equaling the amount of the bribes, and was denied his request to have his sentence suspended [Japan Times report]. Motonobu Miyazaki, former managing director of Yamada, was also sentenced to two years' imprisonment for his involvement in the bribery. AFP has more. The Daily Yomiuri has local coverage.

Japan has been generally successful in fighting corruption, but financial scandal has rocked the national government before. In May 2007 Agriculture Minister Shinichi Yamazaki committed suicide [Times report] after being called before a parliamentary committee to answer allegations of embezzling over $200,000 in state funds. In 2008, corruption monitoring group Transparency International [advocacy website] ranked Japan 18th in the world [TI chart] – tied with the US – its index of countries enjoying perceptions of low corruption.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Supreme Court ruled Indians not US citizens

On November 3, 1884, the US Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins that John Elk, an American Indian who had tried to vote in a federal election in Omaha, Nebraska, was not a US citizen entitled to the protection of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution. Native Americans became eligible for citizenship in 1887 under the Dawes Act, but only in 1924, under the Indian Citizenship Act, were all Native Americans born in the US made citizens.

Last public execution at Tyburn Gallows in London

On November 3, 1783, the last public execution took place at Tyburn Gallows in London, when John Austin was hanged for highway robbery. From the hanging of William Fitz Osburn in 1196 until Austin's execution, Tyburn served as London's primary location for public executions.

Learn more about the trial of John Austin.