 Police arrest of handbill distributors was aimed at suppressing opposition to constitutional revision More than 800 people attended a meeting organized by trade unions and democratic organizations in Tokyo on April 26 to discuss the danger of losing the freedom of speech. The discussion made clear that repression of anti-war and other handbill distributors is aimed at containing opposition to an adverse revision of the war-renouncing Constitution. Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi stated that the recent series of suppression serves two purposes. One is to stifle public opinion in opposition to changing the Constitution to allow Japan to fight wars abroad, and the other is to marginalize the JCP because of its opposition to bad government under the two party system. Ichida said that the struggle against suppression of handbill distributors has national significance. He called for the struggle to be continued until those in power find it difficult to use repression as a tactic to stifle dissent. Okudaira Yasuhiro, honorary professor at the University of Tokyo, gave a lecture in which he pointed out that the application of the laws in the recent cases of suppression is not oriented towards defending the rights of citizens but rather resembles the ways the prewar and wartime special political police (Tokko) applied the Maintenance of the Public Order Act. Horikoshi Akira, who was arrested and indicted for allegedly violating the National Public Service Law by distributing Akahata extras during a holiday in his neighborhood, expressed his determination to fight for constitutional freedoms. People directly involved in similar incidents in Tachikawa, Katsushika, and Oita also called for the struggle to be continued until all cases are won. - Akahata, April 27, 2005 |