Japan Press Weekly

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2012 December 12 - 18 [CIVIL RIGHTS]

Man unfairly arrested for posting anti-nuke candidate’s flyers freed

A citizen who was unfairly arrested for posting flyers of an anti-nuke candidate at a housing complex in Tokyo’s suburban city of Mitaka was released on December 11.

On December 8, when the man was putting legal flyers of Utsunomiya Kenji, a Tokyo gubernatorial candidate, in door mail slots of the public housing complex, a resident burst through the door shouting, “You are trespassing!” and called the police. Mitaka Police sent this case to the prosecutors’ office and took the campaigner into custody because the prosecutors applied to a court for his detention.

After his release, he said, “I was just delivering the flyers door-to-door in a legitimate manner. I wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

His defense counsel Suematsu Akio said, “This was obviously a case of false accusation. The prosecutors shouldn’t have applied for his detention in the first place.”

Utsunomiya, former head of Japan’s bar association, issued a comment on the release, “His arrest corresponds to obstruction in election campaigning by administrative authorities, and his release means that we thwarted the prosecutor-police attempt. As a defender of freedom of expression and free electioneering representing those who do not have wealth and power, I am very glad that he was released.”

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In the wake of the arrest, a citizens’ group supporting Utsunomiya held a press conference at the Judicial Press Club. The group leader, lawyer Nakayama Taketoshi protested the campaigner’s arrest, saying, “The distribution of legally-designated leaflets is inapplicable to an accusation of trespassing, the arrest was aimed at interfering with our campaign.”

Utsunomiya’s campaign chief Uehara Hiroko, former mayor of Tokyo’s Kunitachi City, criticized the arrest, “I also live in a public housing unit, and various flyers are dropped in our mailboxes. It’s an everyday occurrence.”