Decision Not to Indict Anti-NHK Group Head Found Inappropriate

Kobe, July 14 (Jiji Press)–A Japanese inquest panel has decided that public prosecutors’ decision not to indict Takashi Tachibana, head of a political group criticizing Japan Broadcasting Corp., or NHK, over his alleged intimidation of a local assembly member in 2024 was inappropriate. The prosecution inquest panel in Kobe, the capital of Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, made the decision June 24. The Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office will reinvestigate the matter and make a decision again on whether to indict Tachibana, 58. Meanwhile, the inquest panel endorsed the prosecutors’ failure to indict Tachibana over his suspected defamation and forcible obstruction of business against Hyogo prefectural assembly member Kenichi Okutani. The prosecutors office last December decided not to indict Tachibana over those allegations, leading Okutani to request a review by the inquest panel. On Nov. 3, 2024, during the campaign period for a Hyogo gubernatorial election, Tachibana made a speech in front of Okutani’s home-cum-office, allegedly saying, “Come out, Okutani” and “I’ll stop now as I don’t want you to commit suicide after I scare you too much.” Tachibana denounced Okutani in front of dozens of people, and the use of the term “commit suicide” makes people scared, the inquest panel said, requesting the prosecutors office to reinvestigate Tachibana’s alleged intimidation of the prefectural assembly member. Okutani praised the panel’s conclusion at a press conference in Kobe on Monday. The decision is “very meaningful,” he said, noting that “acts of intimidation in the name of freedom of expression would be allowed” if action is not taken against Tachibana’s behavior. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]