Japan Press Weekly

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2008 January 9 - 15 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Supporters of JCP local assembly member ask the Supreme Court for careful examination of suppression case

A group of supporters of a Japanese Communist Party local assembly member fighting for freedom of expression in Oita Prefecture issued a call on January 10 for urgent action to press the Supreme Court to hold a public hearing by canceling the scheduled date of sentencing.

Oishi Tadaaki, a JCP Bungotakada City Assembly member, was arrested and indicted in 2003 for distributing local JCP Supporters Association fliers allegedly in violation of the Public Offices Election Law.

The Fukuoka High Court in September 2007 found him guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of 150 thousand yen.

Oishi and his lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court.

The top court announced that the judgment will be delivered on January 28.

The supporters group says, “In the history of the struggle against suppression of election campaigns, it is unusual that the date of delivering the sentence was announced only a month after an appeal to a higher court.”

Oishi and his lawyers have pleaded not guilty because posting JCP fliers is a legitimate exercise of the constitutional freedom of expression which is also enshrined in the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights. They urged the Supreme Court to pass a fair judgment acceptable to the world.