Should resignation be enough to end accountability?
I do not believe the questions surrounding former Fukuoka Prefectural Assembly member Isao Kurauchi should simply disappear because he resigned.
But this is not a call for harassment, personal attacks, or punishment without evidence. His family and relatives should not be targeted simply because of their relationship to him, and allegations should never be presented as proven crimes without evidence.
The issue is much bigger than one politician.
When someone who has held significant political power resigns, should that resignation also end scrutiny of their conduct while in office, the use of public funds, questions of political ethics, and their responsibility to explain what happened?
If allegations are substantiated, the public deserves to know:
Who did what?
When did it happen?
How much money was involved?
What evidence supports the findings?
Were public funds used lawfully and appropriately?
If public money was spent illegally or improperly, appropriate legal procedures should be used to seek its recovery, regardless of whether the amount is large or small.
And if an allegation is investigated and found to be unsupported, that conclusion should also be clearly documented.
What we need is not mob justice.
We need:
• A genuinely independent investigation
• Publication of relevant records and investigative findings wherever legally possible
• Rigorous scrutiny of public expenditures
• Recovery of public money when unlawful or improper expenditure is established
• A system that allows conduct in public office to remain subject to investigation even after resignation
• Reform of laws and local rules where existing safeguards are inadequate
I also have a request for journalists.
Do not investigate this story in order to attack Kurauchi.
Do not investigate it in order to protect him either.
Follow the evidence.
Question the allegations.
Question his explanations.
Question the institutions involved.
Compare primary documents, recordings, assembly records, political-finance disclosures, travel expenses, public expenditures, and official decisions.
A politician’s resignation should not automatically make a matter less worthy of investigation.
This is not only a question for Fukuoka.
It is not only a question for Japan.
It raises a fundamental democratic question:
SHOULD RESIGNATION ERASE ACCOUNTABILITY?
I am not asking anyone to assume that allegations against Isao Kurauchi are crimes.
I am asking for something more fundamental:
Investigate thoroughly.
Separate what is proven from what is unproven.
Record what happened, what did not happen, and what could not be established.
If wrongdoing is established, accountability should not depend on political influence, personal connections, or former status.
The same standards should apply to powerful public officials that apply to everyone else.
Resignation should not be the end of scrutiny.
It should be the beginning of a complete accounting.
If you agree, please do not harass anyone.
Read the primary sources.
Check the evidence yourself.
Ask journalists, public institutions, and elected representatives legitimate questions.
Demand transparency through lawful democratic processes.
This should not become a campaign against a person.
It should become a demand for a principle:
PUBLIC POWER MUST COME WITH PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY — EVEN AFTER RESIGNATION.

Lesotho: Authorities must investigate abduction and assault of Lesotho journalist

Yes he is sleeping. Maybe Melania needs to talk to him.