A former senior police officer in Japan's southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima has been indicted on charges of breaching confidentiality.
Prosecutors in the prefecture indicted Honda Takashi on Friday. He is charged with violating the National Public Service Act.
Honda allegedly sent internal documents, which contained personal information in a stalking case involving its officer, to a writer in March after he retired.
During a court proceeding, Honda said he could not tolerate Kagoshima prefectural police chief Nogawa Akiteru attempting to cover up incidents involving its officers.
But Nogawa strongly denied the allegation. He said that necessary measures had been in place, and he never gave instructions intended to cover anything up.
Observers have been discussing whether Honda's conduct should be considered "leaking information" or "whistleblowing" to report the wrongdoings of an organization.