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9. Dec 2003 Tokyo District
Court Rules Against Journalist Okkotsu |
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On Dec. 22, 2003, the Tokyo
District Court ruled that journalist Masao Okkotsu (also
known as “Otsukotsu”) was guilty of libel
due to an article published in the magazine Forum 21 about
Indian scholar Neelakantha Radhakrishnan. The case further
ordered Okkotsu, known for his anti-Soka Gakkai articles,
to pay damages.
In the August 2002 issue of Forum 21, Okkotsu, who also
served as publisher, wrote that Dr. Radhakrishnan is “a
questionable figure who has been prosecuted by the Indian
government in 1982 as a ‘problem figure,’”
“a problematic figure who fills his pockets by collecting
huge sums of money” and that he is “well known
among intellectuals in India for randomly giving out commendations
in return for their donations.”
Throughout the trial, it was proven that Okkotsu had mistaken
Dr. N. Radhakrishnan with “K.S. Radakrishna,”
a completely different figure.
In February 1987, Okkotsu read about an article entitled
“A Report by the Indian Government accusing Radhakrishnan”
in the Japanese weekly Shukan Jitsuwa. Okkotsu was given
this information from Isao Dan, a tabloid journalist,
and introduced its contents in the Keimei Newspaper, a
publication produced by the Shoshinkai, a group of priests
excommunicated from Nichiren Shoshu in the 1980’s,
and publicly opposed to the Soka Gakkai. It later became
apparent that the Indian government did not publish the
article, nor was it written about Dr. N. Radhakrishnan.
(Okkotsu received only the first page of the booklet,
and did not confirm the contents.)
Presiding Judge Yoshihiro Katayama pointed out that “if
he (Okkotsu) had confirmed the producer and the contents
of the booklet, it should have been easy to realize that
this was not an investigative report produced by the Indian
government or that there was no description of the plaintiff
(Dr. N. Radhakrishnan) but of K.S. Radakrishna.”
Okkotsu also claimed that he had “heard opinions
from Puran Debi, a member of the Indian parliament in
April 2000.”
The court condemned him stating that “defendant
Okkotsu himself testified that when he questioned Debi
about the plaintiff, he was unsure whether or not he correctly
pronounced the name ‘Radhakrishnan’ with an
‘n’ at the end” and that “there
is a possibility that Debi’s opinion regarding K.S.
Rada krishna.” The court accused Okkotsu of poor
interviewing skills adding “the defendant Okkotsu
did not ask more specific questions or conduct other interviews
in order to confirm Debi’s statements.”
Okkotsu was also charged with “sharing completely
incorrect information regarding the plaintiff and mistaking
him for another individual … there was absolutely
no room for an excuse.”
In Jan. 2003, the Tokyo High Court ordered Okkotsu to
pay damages to the Soka Gakkai for spreading groundless
rumors pertaining to a cemetery in Hokkaido. In Nov. 2003,
the Supreme Court ruled against Okkotsu for alleging that
the Soka Gakkai was involved in the tax evasion case of
the Nichiren School at Mount Minobu. And in December 2003,
Okkotsu was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay damages
to the Soka Gakkai for fabricating its involvement in
a land speculation scandal in Tokyo.
Interview with Morio Miyahara,
attorney for Dr. Radhakrishnan
The Tokyo District Court recently ordered Masao Okkotsu,
as well as Forum Corporation which publishes Forum 21,
to pay damages for defaming Dr. N. Radhakrishnan, a renowned
Gandhist of India.
In the hearings, Okkotsu testified that he had actually
never read the document “Research Report by the
Indian Government” which he quoted in his article
to criticize Dr. Radhakrishnan’s behavior. After
close examination of the report submitted to the court,
it was discovered that the report was not in fact a “Research
Report by the Indian Government,” nor did it
concern Dr. Radhakrishnan in any way. They could not find
any contents that the defendant Okkotsu quoted in his
article. Thus, it became clear that he used reports carried
by other weekly magazines to write article in question.
Once the case was decided, Okkotsu argued that he should
not have to pay damages because Dr. Radhakrishnan is unknown
in Japan, and therefore the libel case is without merit.
However, the court rejected these claims and strictly
admonished him for “sharing completely incorrect
information and that there was absolutely no room for
excuse.”
Okkotsu has been ordered by the court as many as three
times to pay damages to the Soka Gakkai due to libelous
and unfounded reports. I think it is apparent that he
fails in his most fundamental attitude as journalist to
report based on facts.
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(From Seikyo Shimbun,
December 23, 2003)
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