PROSECUTORS WON’T INDICT ABE OVER DINNER SPENDING

Prosecutors said they decided not to indict former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his camp's spending of millions of yen for dinner receptions held for supporters, ending their investigation into a scandal that came to light last year, Kyodo news agency reported.

A Tokyo court fined one of Abe's state-paid secretaries for failing to keep legally required financial records related to the dinner functions. Prosecutors had sought a summary indictment for the secretary, Hiroyuki Haikawa, a simplified proceeding that typically skips court proceedings.

Since the scandal came to light in November last year, the former premier has repeatedly denied in parliament the allegation that a group managing his political funds partially covered the costs of the receptions.

At a press conference held after the prosecutors' decision, Abe said he had no knowledge of any problems with his camp's bookkeeping but apologized for making what turned out to be false statements. "I bear a heavy political responsibility, which I accept wholeheartedly," he said, adding he would "make every effort to win back the trust of the people."

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