Panel Blasts Univ. of Tokyo over Corruption Scandals

Tokyo, April 4 (Jiji Press)--An investigative group of lawyers has blasted the University of Tokyo over recent corruption scandals, urging the prestigious national university to reform its governance system.

"The self-correcting function is seriously lacking in the organization as a whole," the group said in a report released Friday.

The report listed issues found in the university's response to two scandals involving a professor of the university and a doctor of its hospital, respectively, both of whom had been dismissed.

It mainly discussed the case of former professor Shinichi Sato, 62, who has been indicted over the favors he allegedly provided in connection with joint research in return for lavish entertainment.

The report criticized the university for suspending its internal probe into the case for a long time on the grounds of police investigations, saying that the act means the university abandoned its self-correcting function and accountability.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]