Japan Press Weekly

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2012 August 1 - 14 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Lawyers’ group requests that police not obstruct protest action against restart of NPPs

Some lawyers on August 2 made representations to the Metropolitan Police Department regarding its overreaction to the weekly protest actions against the restart of nuclear power plants which have taken place in front of the prime minister’s office since March.

They are representatives of a “lawyers’ group observing the actions in front of the PM office”, which was formed by volunteer lawyers recently.

The group issued a statement on the same day that the police should respect people’s right of free expression and not overreact to their peaceful protest actions.

At a news conference, the lawyers said that the police blocked the path of pedestrians with iron fences and took pictures of participants though the protesters acted in an orderly and peaceful manner. Lawyer Kojima Nobuo said, “The authorities infringe on freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the Constitution, and on participants’ right not to be photographed. It can seriously affect the accepted definition of democracy.”

Lawyer Utsunomiya Kenji said, “People’s movements such as the no-nuke action held in front of the PM office supports the very notion of democracy. I think it is important to the future of society that the public is guaranteed the right to engage in such a campaign.”

Lawyer Tateishi Yuka added, “Excessive controls by the police can intimidate citizens and lead some to believe they might be in the wrong.”