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3. Nov. 2005: Tokyo District
court orders Masatomo Yamazaki to pay penalties for libel |
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Convicted embezzler and former
lawyer for the Soka Gakkai, Masatomo Yamazaki was ordered
to pay 330,000 yen as a result of losing a lawsuit for
libel.
On November 15th, a hearing was held at Tokyo district
court regarding a libel and invasion of privacy lawsuit
filed by a person in Shizuoka prefecture as a result of
groundless content found in a book published by Yamazaki.
In a spurious article in the book that Yamazaki published
in 2001, he quoted this person’s name, violating
his right of privacy.
Judge Kunio Mizuno examined details of the book written
by Yamazaki and strictly condemned its absurd inaccuracies.
Yamazaki claims that he wrote the book based on information
and documents from former Soka Gakkai members. The verdict,
however, pointed out “testimonies of witnesses whom
the defendant (yamazaki) claimed were former members of
the Soka Gakkai, were mere abstractions lacking in detailed
content.”
Moreover, the verdict states “the article gave the
impression that the defendant simply used rumors from
those sources (former members)” and “it is
hard to admit that the defendant conducted adequate research
to support this information.”
Last September, Yamazaki was convicted two days in a row
in related lawsuits held in the Tokyo Higher Court regarding
the same book. He has also lost a case in Osaka district
court regarding the same book. He has been strictly condemned
in court for his continuous illegal acts.
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(From Seikyo Shimbun, November
17, 2005)
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