Former minister seeks court injunction preventing troop dispatch to Iraq

A former cabinet minister and influential member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party filed a lawsuit against the government claiming that the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq is unconstitutional.

Minowa Noboru, former Postal and Telecommunications minister and advocate of a strong national defense, on January 28 filed the suit with the Sapporo District Court calling for an injunction against the dispatch of Self-Defense Force units to Iraq. He also demands that the government pay him 10,000 yen in consolation money.

"Given the stated government policy of an 'exclusively defensive defense', the dispatch of SDF personnel to Iraq is in clear violation of Article 9. It even goes against the law that restricts areas of SDF operations in Iraq to 'non-combat' zones," Minowa said in his petition.

At a news conference in Sapporo on the same day, he said, "Japan is a law-governed state. The prime minister must be a defender of law. How can his law-breaking be tolerated?" (end)