Critics warned the move threatened to turn prosecutions into American-style media spectacles similar to the OJ Simpson and Amanda Knox trials.
The judge based many of his findings on another accused man who turned prosecution witness and gave contradictory testimony.
On March 22nd a fellow executive, Ryoji Miyauchi, who turned prosecution witness, was also found guilty and given a two-year jail term.These sentences are unusually harsh for Japan, where white-collar crime typically carries a suspended term.
The company was first linked to the scandal in Brazil in February, when allegations emerged during testimony from a former Petrobras executive turned prosecution witness that it had bribed politicians and staff at the state-owned firm.
-Postpone until July 30 a decision on whether to turn over prosecution of misdemeanor violations of state law to the Los Angeles County district attorney.
"It's high time that the information be turned into prosecution.
The oil rig's construction was one of the principal projects that generated bribes, according to a police testimony made by a former Petrobras executive turned key prosecution witness.
I hope though that people who don't feel able to go direct to the public authorities will get help from Rape Crisis or the Survivors Trust and that they will, in turn, encourage prosecutions wherever it is possible and practical to do so.
Analysts said he turned the prosecution to his advantage, portraying it as foreign intervention in Kenya's domestic affairs.
It was then the turn of the prosecution to invite their chosen expert witnesses.
