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Japanese high court rules intelligence unit violated protestors' rights

Xinhua, February 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Japanese plaintiffs petitioning a high court saw a lower court ruling upheld on Tuesday ordering the government to pay damages following the Self-Defense Forces' (SDF) intelligence unit monitoring them following an anti-SDF rally.

In 2012, the Sendai District Court ordered the government to pay 300,000 yen (2,487 U.S. dollars) to five plaintiffs and in doing so, said the government was in violation of their personal rights.

The local court ruled that the government had violated the plaintiffs' personal rights by collecting private information such as names, job details, political persuasions and connections, and other information, during the intelligence unit's monitoring activities between 2002 and 2004.

The lower court, however, opted not to suspend the SDF intelligence unit's monitoring activities.

Similarly on Tuesday, the Sendai High Court dismissed calls from the plaintiffs to halt the intelligence activities.

The high court did however award 100,000 yen, although to just one of a total of the 94 plaintiffs, all of whom said their privacy rights had been violated following their participation in a rally against the SDF being dispatched to Iraq.

Claims made by four local assemblymen were also rejected by the high court on Tuesday.

"The single plaintiff's privacy was violated by the SDF unit that collected the name and occupation of the individual, even though that has not been made public," Presiding Judge Masato Furukubo was quoted by local media as saying Tuesday.

The case, which involves a total of 107 people from multiple prefectures seeking 1 million yen in damages each, and Tuesday's verdict, will be reviewed by the defense ministry.

"I hope to review the content of the verdict thoroughly and respond accordingly," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a press briefing, declining to comment on the ruling itself.

The government has contested the lower court's ruling, saying the actions of the SDF's intelligence unit were appropriate, whereas the plaintiffs have appealed to the court to suspend the SDF's activities, seeking damages for the illegal collection of personal information. Enditem