Individuals who spread false info about Hyogo governor candidate referred to prosecutors

KOBE -- Several people involved in spreading multiple false posts on X (formerly Twitter) about Kazumi Inamura, a candidate in last fall's Hyogo gubernatorial election, have been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Act, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned from a source close to the investigation.
Hyogo Prefectural Police sent papers on the accused to prosecutors June 20. The opinions attached by the police on the handling of each individual have not been disclosed. The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office will carefully determine whether criminal responsibility can be pursued.
Inamura, former mayor of Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, ran against Motohiko Saito in the November 2024 gubernatorial election, in which the latter was reelected. According to her support group, during the campaign period, false claims were posted on X, such as "Inamura is promoting foreign residents' voting rights." The support group filed a criminal complaint regarding these posts.
The prefectural police also sent prosecutors documents the same day accusing unspecified suspects of obstruction of business by deception over the freezing of an X account run by Inamura's support group due to alleged false reports.
(Japanese original by Yuta Shibayama and Yuria Kiyama, Kobe Bureau)

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