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February 12, 2003 - The Tokyo
Superior Court today handed down a decision affirming
that Nichiren Shoshu High Priest Nikken Abe committed
'libel' and 'disseminated false reports' about the Soka
Gakkai. The verdict also found Abe to be personally liable
for 4 million yen in damages to be paid to the Soka Gakkai
as a consequence.
The Superior Court's action was taken in response to an
appeal filed by Nichiren Shoshu of a previously rendered
lower court decision, which found that the priesthood
had widely disseminated false information alleging that
the plaintiff (Soka Gakkai) had planted fabricated information
regarding the so-called Seattle Incident in a U.S. Government
database.
The Seattle Incident trial, which involved the high priest's
alleged altercation with prostitutes in Seattle in 1963,
was settled in January 2002 when Nichiren Shoshu withdrew
its appeal of a lower court ruling in favor of the Soka
Gakkai.
The January 8, 1995 issue of the Seikyo Shinbun, a daily
newspaper of the Soka Gakkai, reported the existence of
a record of the Seattle Incident within a U.S. Government
database. On November 28 of that year, the priesthood
filed a libel suit against the Soka Gakkai, alleging that
the Seikyo Shimbun report was a fabrication. Nichiren
Shoshu subsequently withdrew this lawsuit, but not before
they held a press conference and announced to the media
that the Soka Gakkai had engaged in criminal activity
by planting false information in a U.S. Government database.
Additionally, the priesthood distributed documents containing
libelous statements, such as The Gakkai's dreadful criminal
acts in the U.S. are revealed, and ... The Gakkai's criminal
nature is revealed to all of Japan, the United States,
and to the rest of the world.
With full knowledge of the falsehood of their allegations,
the priesthood also published the same libelous statements
in a special issue of its newspaper Daibyakuho, dated
November 30, 1995, printed expressly for that purpose.
Some 1,350,000 copies were distributed in Japan and overseas,
of which 350,000 copies were sent to national and municipal
agencies, elected officials, school boards, school officials,
judges and attorneys, and private individuals with whom
the priesthood had no previous relationship.
In response, on January 22, 1996, the Soka Gakkai filed
a libel suit against Nichiren Shoshu and High Priest Nikken,
regarding the priesthood's dissemination of these fabricated
reports. After a lengthy process typical of civil law
proceedings in Japan, the Tokyo District Court found in
a verdict dated February 22, 2002 that the priesthood
had committed libel at the press conference, and in the
distribution of its newspaper.
The initial verdict, however, did not acknowledge the
high priest's personal involvement in the priesthood's
libelous conduct. Feeling that the truth had not been
fully clarified, the Soka Gakkai appealed to the Tokyo
Superior Court.
In the recent verdict, the superior court upheld the initial
court decision and acknowledged that the priesthood's
reports about the Soka Gakkai have no foundation, stating,
The court does not recognize the authenticity of the statement
that the plaintiff planted or attempted to plant false
information in a United States Government computer database.
Of equal or greater importance, the court found that the
high priest had committed libel. Specifically, the text
of the verdict states that:
(1) Nikken Abe represents Nichiren Shoshu as its chief
executive and has ultimate authority to preside over the
school, as the High Priest. (2) The decision to file a
lawsuit against the Soka Gakkai was made by Nichiren Shoshu's
board of directors, of which Nikken Abe was part. At a
board of directors meeting, the high priest was present
when the content of the lawsuit was read, and he was therefore
fully aware of its content. (3) On January 10, 1995, at
a meeting with priests, Nikken Abe discussed a document
entitled The Gakkai's Criminal Nature Exposed Again.,
which had been distributed to Nichiren Shoshu temples
throughout Japan. At the meeting, the high priest instructed
the priests in attendance to read the document. (4) On
December 4, 1995, at a meeting at Muryo-ji in Gunma Prefecture,
Japan, Nikken Abe stated: Since [the Soka Gakkai] announced
that something which doesn't exist, exists, there must
have been some sort of machination. The recent lawsuit
has been filed in order to denounce them using secular
laws ... If you read the special issue carefully, I suppose,
you will understand this point. (5) In his book titled
Shinjitsu no shomei (Eng. Proving the Truth), Nikken Abe
states: There is only one human being who can assert that
if such record should exist, it would be a fabrication.
That person is none other than me, Nikken ... ; ... It
is a fact that such a record cannot exist. If it were
to exist, the only explanation, then, is that it would
be a fabrication planted in the federal government's database
by someone; It seems that the Soka Gakkai fabricated and
planted [the record] somewhere .... I cannot help but
suspect that even now [the Soka Gakkai] insists on the
existence of the record. In light of these facts, the
verdict concluded:
It can only be deemed that [High Priest Nikken] Abe, the
defendant in the appeal, in his capacity as Representative
and High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu, instructed the Bureau
of Religious Affairs of Nichiren Shoshu, the original
defendant in this case, to do the [libelous] reporting
… He, therefore, is to be found complicit with Nichiren
Shoshu ... in its illegal act of libel of the plaintiff
... Based on this, the court ordered Abe to personally
pay four million yen for damages resulting from libel.
Comment by Morio Miyahara,
Soka Gakkai attorney
Mr. Nikken Abe's involvement in the so-called Seattle
Incident was recognized as fact by the Tokyo District
Court in the initial case. Since Nichiren Shoshu withdrew
its appeal of that finding at the Tokyo Superior Court
in January 2002, the case ended with the Soka Gakkai's
victory. This must be fresh in your memory.
This most recent verdict was handed with regard to Nichiren
Shoshu's allegation that the Soka Gakkai committed an
international crime by illegally planting a record in
a United States Federal Government database. The priesthood
held a press conference and sent many materials to public
institutions throughout Japan. The court found that the
priesthood's malicious propaganda as clearly libelous
toward the Soka Gakkai and upheld the initial verdict
by ordering Nichiren Shoshu to pay four million yen in
damages. This court decision is only fair.
In this recent verdict, however, the court also recognized
Mr. Abe's direct involvement in the libel in that he instructed
the Bureau of Religious Affairs. In recognition of his
complicity, the court also ordered Mr. Abe as an individual
to pay four million yen.
This demonstrates the essential fact that Mr. Abe was
personally responsible for this libelous activity. Mr.
Abe not only referred to the priesthood's allegations
in his own sermons, but also wrote in his book that it
was only natural for the priesthood to believe that the
Soka Gakkai fabricated a record and planted it in the
United States government database. In light of those facts,
the court deemed that Mr. Abe directed the Nichiren Shoshu
Bureau of Religious Affairs in its libelous actions. This
court decision, I feel, is only natural and appropriate.
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