Hyogo Gov. Denies Allegation about Whistleblower Info Leak

Kobe, June 6 (Jiji Press)--Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito on Friday denied an allegation that private information of a whistleblower in the western Japan prefecture was leaked at his instruction.

Saito denied his allegation at Friday's plenary session of the prefectural assembly, saying that he will urge staff members to strengthen discipline.

"I have never ordered" an information leak, he said in response to a question from the Liberal Democratic Party-affiliated group of the assembly. "I will increase my monthly pay cut to take responsibility as administrative head and work to restore trust from the public."

Assembly members of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan urged Saito to resign, not expand the pay cut. Saito refused, saying that his duty is to move prefectural administrative work forward.

The private information was that of a former senior prefectural government official who wrote and distributed a document alleging harassment by Saito in March 2024 and died in July that year in an apparent suicide.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]