October 10, 2014

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on October 9 commented on a Japanese journalist’s prosecution by South Korea for defamation of the president, saying, “The freedom of speech and press should be guaranteed.”

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on the previous day indicted the former Seoul bureau chief of Japan’s Sankei Shimbun on a charge of libelling South Korean President Park Geun-hye in his article carried on the Sankei website in August.

Stressing that in a democratic society, arguments and counterarguments are essential in handling criticism against authorities, Shii expressed his concern over South Korea’s action.