 Flyer suppression is not a matter of a party: peace groups At an urgent meeting on January 6 in protest against the local police arresting a man who distributed Japanese Communist Party flyers, peace groups in Katsushika Ward in Tokyo demanded that the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office drop this case and immediately release the man. The meeting was organized by the "Katsushika Peace Wave" and the "No! War Cooperation Katsushika Network". A representative of the Peace Wave said, "It's a matter of the foundation of democracy, not only on one political party." A woman from the Network said, "The arrest is unconstitutional. I want to protect the freedom of expression." Participants expressed concerns that despite their right to choose a political party, citizens will have a difficulty choosing one they support without receiving political parties' flyers. Since December 23 last year, Kameari Police Station has held the man, 57, in detention on suspicion of trespassing to distribute the flyers outlining the JCP achievements and actions in the ward in an apartment house building. This arrest took place after the Tokyo District Court on December 16 acquitted three people who distributed anti-war flyers in a Self Defense Forces personnel' apartment complex and were arrested on the pretext of trespassing in last February, ruling that the freedom of expression is a matter of "fundamentals of democracy", and that distributing political flyers must be guaranteed as a basic right. (end) |