森友学园丑闻疑云未散 涉事官员拒绝牵连安倍晋三

The official at the heart of a cronyism scandal engulfing Shinzo Abe’s government has insisted that the Japanese prime minister and his aides did not order him to falsify documents.

日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)政府深陷朋党丑闻，但这起丑闻的核心官员坚称，首相及其助手并没有命令他伪造文件。

Nobuhisa Sagawa, an ex-finance ministry bureaucrat, said the decision to alter documents about a sale of public land was made by his staff alone. He said there were no orders from Mr Abe, his wife Akie Abe, finance minister Taro Aso or any of the prime minister’s aides.

前财务省官员佐川宣寿(Nobuhisa Sagawa)表示，修改出售公共土地文件的决定是他手下的工作人员独自做出的。他说，安倍晋三、其夫人安倍昭恵(Akie Abe)、财务大臣麻生太郎(Taro Aso) 、或首相的任何助手都没有下达过这样的命令。

But in a testimony to the upper house of parliament, Mr Sagawa declined to say anything about why the documents were falsified, pleading his right to avoid self-incrimination. “There is a risk of criminal charges so I decline to comment,” he said repeatedly.

但在向国会参议院作证时，佐川拒绝说明文件被伪造的原因，并且申辩说他有权避免自证有罪。他一再表示：“有被刑事起诉的风险，所以我拒绝发表评论。”

On the surface, Mr Sagawa’s refusal to implicate Mr Abe is good news for the prime minister. But the official’s failure to answer questions means the scandal will continue to tarnish the government.

表面上看，佐川拒绝牵连安倍，这对首相来说是个好消息。但他没有回答任何问题则意味着政府仍无法与丑闻撇清关系。

A recent opinion poll by the Nikkei newspaper showed the government’s approval rating has fallen to 42 per cent, down 14 percentage points from the previous reading in February.

《日本经济新闻》(Nikkei)最近的一项民意调查显示，政府的支持率已降至42%，较2月份下降了14个百分点。

Earlier this month, the finance ministry admitted to falsifying numerous documents it had submitted to parliament. The documents related to the cut-price sale of public land to Moritomo Gakuen, an ultra-nationalist school operator.

本月早些时候，财务省承认伪造了许多提交给国会的文件。这些文件涉及将一块公共土地低价出售给奉行极端民族主义的学校运营商森友学园(Moritomo Gakuen)。

The documents were changed to exclude mentions of Mr Abe and Akie. Mrs Abe was going to be honorary principal of a new primary school on the site, which was sold for ¥134m despite having an appraisal value of ¥956m.

文件被修改，删去了安倍晋三和安倍昭恵的名字。这块土地的售价为1.34亿日元，而估值为9.56亿日元。安倍昭恵将担任在这块土地上建成的新小学的名誉校长。

Opposition leaders rounded on Mr Sagawa, saying he had failed to explain anything, and repeated their demands for Mrs Abe to testify.

反对党领袖对佐川的作证进行了抨击，称他没有解释任何事情，并重申让安倍昭恵作证的要求。

“His completely insincere answers have only deepened our suspicions,” said Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary-general of the opposition Constitutional Democratic party of Japan.

“他那完全不真诚的回答只会加深我们的怀疑，”日本反对党立宪民主党干事长福山哲郎(Tetsuro Fukuyama)说。

“Despite refusing to testify about the details, the one thing he can do is disavow the involvement of the prime minister’s office,” said Mr Fukuyama. “It’s completely illogical.”

“尽管他拒绝就细节作证，但他能做的一件事是否认首相办公室与此事相关，”福山表示，“这完全不合逻辑。”

Mr Abe has always insisted he had nothing to do with the land sale and so far there is no evidence to show otherwise. But the seeming cover-up has done enormous damage to his government.

安倍一直坚称自己与这块土地的出售无关，到目前为止，还没有证据显示他与此事有关。但是，这种貌似掩盖真相的做法已经给他的政府造成了巨大损害。

Analysts doubt the prime minister will step down but the list of unanswered questions means the crisis is likely to linger. That is sapping Mr Abe’s authority and making it harder for him to secure another term as leader of the ruling party this autumn.

一些分析人士怀疑首相会下台，但一系列得不到解答的问题意味着这场危机可能会持续。这将削弱安倍的权威，加大他在今年秋季连任执政党领袖的难度。

Prosecutors continue to probe the original land sale as well as the falsification of documents. While Mr Sagawa declined to say anything in parliament, much will depend on whether he is more forthcoming with the legal authorities.

检察官继续调查土地出售的原始和伪造文件。尽管佐川在国会三缄其口，但事态会如何发展，很大程度上将取决于在面对司法当局时，他是否会更愿意作答。