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July 7, 2003 -- No. 182 |
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The Justice Chronicle,
provided by Soka Gakkai International-USA, is a free monthly
e-mail in support of the Soka Spirit movement. Soka Spirit
is the SGI's educational effort to create value and deepen
our understanding of Nichiren Buddhism through increased
awareness of issues surrounding the Nichiren Shoshu priesthood
and the spiritual foundation of the SGI movement.
1) NEWS
JOURNALIST MASAO OTSUKOTSU AGAIN FOUND GUILTY OF LIBEL
For the fifth time in a single year, a court decision
has been handed down against the journalist Masao Otsukotsu
for libel against the Soka Gakkai.
On May 29, the Tokyo High Court reached a decision in
the trial of a lawsuit brought by the Soka Gakkai against
Otsukotsu and the Forum Publishing Corporation, which
ran an article written by Otsukotsu in its May 1, 2002,
issue of ″Forum 21″ magazine. The judge ruled
in favor of the Soka Gakkai on all of its claims, and
ordered Otsukotsu and the Forum Publishing Company to
pay damages.
The article falsely implicated the Soka Gakkai in a tax
evasion scandal involving the former chief priest of a
temple on the compound of the head of the Minobu Nichiren
School, Minobu-san Kuonji. (The incident was originally
made public in March 2002 by the Tokyo Regional Tax Bureau.)
The article also contained a series of groundless and
incriminating statements such as, ″Behind the tax
scandal was the maneuvering of the Soka Gakkai,″
and ″[The Soka Gakkai] exerted pressure on the Tax
Agency.″
In court, the defendants put forth a number of claims,
such as asserting that the article in question was not
targeting the Soka Gakkai and did not damage the Soka
Gakkai′s reputation.
The court's decision, however, scrutinized the nature
of the magazine, stating: ″From the inaugural issue
(published in March 2002) up through the issue currently
in question (May 2002), every issue without exception
has carried articles disparaging to the appellant (the
Soka Gakkai).″ The court clearly found that the
magazine had persistently and repeatedly defamed the Soka
Gakkai.
In its conclusion, the court stated, ″In light of
the pattern and circumstances surrounding this published
information, the problematic portions of the article now
under consideration in this case are consistent with and
constitute an extension of the magazine's activities against
the appellant ... It cannot be denied that one intention
of these statements was to disparage the appellant ...
The public image of the Soka Gakkai (appellant) was degraded
by these articles and therefore we cannot help but conclude
that they constitute defamation.″
In December of last year, in a trial over another article
written by Otsukotsu published by the ″Shukan Shincho″
weekly magazine, Otsukotsu and the Shincho Publishing
Company were found liable for publishing false information
about the Soka Gakkai. Both parties were ordered to pay
damages. (Two articles claimed that the Soka Gakkai had
conspired with the New Komeito political party to manipulate
land prices and reap a windfall for itself. The magazine
eventually published a retraction and apology. See JUSTICE
CHRONICLE, No. 161)
Then in September of last year, the Tokyo District Court,
and in January this year, the Tokyo High Court, both ruled
against Otsukotsu in a case concerning another article
that he wrote containing false information about a cemetery
run by the Soka Gakkai in Hokkaido. In that case, Otsukotsu
declined to appeal the High Court's decision and was ordered
to pay damages. Each of these court decisions declared
that Otsukotsu had been involved in disseminating false
claims about the Soka Gakkai.
In the most recent case, Otsukotsu was never able to assert
that the articles in question were true. In the case concerning
the cemetery in Hokkaido, Otsukotsu lost in the first
trial without offering any evidence to support his statements.
In the second trial, he could offer nothing more than
another article published 20 years earlier in the newsletter
of a group of individuals who had left the Soka Gakkai,
whose agenda had been to disparage the organization.
On the political front, it seems that the Japan Communist
Party (a rival of Komeito, the political party in Japan
whose constituents are largely Soka Gakkai members) has
embraced Otsukotsu. Early this year, a book by Otsukotsu
criticizing the Soka Gakkai was widely advertised in the
Communist Party's publication and Otsukotsu attended Communist
Party-related meetings where he was praised and signed
copies of his book.
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This article appeared
in the Seikyo Shimbun, May 30, 2003
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