Prosecutors in Japan have questioned the former prime minister, Shinzo Abe, over a funding scandal that could harm the country’s current leader, Yoshihide Suga. Abe, who resigned in August, apparently due to ill-health, volunteered for questioning this week as prosecutors sought to build a case against his secretary over unreported political funds.
He is under pressure to address allegations that a local association of political supporters – known as a support group in Japan – helped cover dining expenses for his constituents to attend the government’s annual cherry blossom-viewing parties in Tokyo between 2015 and last year. The failure to list the expenditure in annual fund reports is a possible violation of political funding laws.
