Japan Press Weekly

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2012 April 4 - 10 [US FORCES]

JCP local representative punished for criticizing USMC

Japanese Communist Party Lower House member Akamine Seiken on April 8 criticized the Takeo City Assembly in Saga Prefecture for punishing a JCP assemblymember for his remarks regarding the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa.

Conservative members of the Takeo City Assembly condemned JCP representative Ehara Kazuo for describing the USMC as the “strike force” at the March 15 assembly meeting. Criticizing the remark as “ruining the dignity of the assembly,” they submitted a motion to the assembly seeking punishment for Ehara, which was forcibly carried through by assembly members representing the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on March 28.

At a gathering hosted by a local JCP committee in Saga, Akamine stated that the punishment against Ehara is “tantamount to punishment against the people of Okinawa.”

Okinawans often refer to the USMC as “crazy marines” since their task is to take part in strikes against foreign countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Akamine explained. “The Marines are not in Okinawa for its defense or deterrence against attack as successive LDP and DPJ governments have claimed. Let us fight against the unfair punishment given for speaking the truth,” he stressed.