Anti-NHK Group Leader Tachibana Indicted for Defamation

Kobe, Nov. 28 (Jiji Press)–The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted Takashi Tachibana, leader of a political group criticizing Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK, for defaming a former Hyogo prefectural assembly member who apparently committed suicide. Tachibana, 58, was arrested Nov. 9 for allegedly disseminating false information about the victim, Hideaki Takeuchi, then 50, who sat on the prefectural assembly’s special investigation committee on a scandal involving Governor Motohiko Saito. According to the indictment, Tachibana, who heads the group called NHK Party, said on Dec. 13 and 14 last year, during his mayoral election campaign in Osaka Prefecture, near Hyogo, that it was probably true that Takeuchi was under police investigation. In the two days following Takeuchi’s death on Jan. 18, Tachibana spread false information through speeches and social media that Takeuchi had been scheduled to be arrested soon. It is considered unusual for a trial in Japan to address posthumous libel. Proving defamation after death is difficult, as it requires demonstrating that the information was false. The focus of the trial will likely be whether Tachibana knew the information was false. Before his arrest on Nov. 9, Tachibana said he would not contest the remarks he made while claiming that there was sufficient reason to believe the content he conveyed was true. On Nov. 14, however, his lawyer said that Tachibana would not argue that such reason existed and would admit to the alleged libel, adding, “He will apologize for what needs apologizing for.” Takeuchi resigned from the Hyogo assembly for personal reasons on Nov. 18 last year, the day after Saito was re-elected governor in the race that followed the passage of a no-confidence motion against him. The motion was submitted in response to a document accusing Saito of harassment and other misconduct. Takeuchi died in an apparent suicide at his home. His wife filed a criminal complaint against Tachibana with the Hyogo prefectural police. In 2023, the Supreme Court confirmed Tachibana’s sentence of two years and six months in prison with a four-year suspension for violating the unfair competition prevention law. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]