 A man indicted for distributing JCP flyers Prosecutors on January 12 indicted a man who distributed Japanese Communist Party flyers in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward on charge of trespassing. The man was arrested on December 23 after posting flyers reporting JCP activities of the Tokyo Metropolitan and Katsushika Ward assembly members. At a press conference on January 11, JCP Katsushika Assembly member Takahashi Nobuo said, "It is our duty to listen to residents' opinions and report our assembly activities to them. The indictment amounts to denying the freedom of political activity and destroying parliamentary democracy." Lawyer Nakamura Ousuke pointed out that the man's act was lawful and stressed, "The indictment is in violation of the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and citizens' right to know that are the basis of democracy." (end) |