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500 plaintiffs to sue Japanese gov't for violating constitution

Xinhua, April 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Japan's civil group "Legal actions against the security bills" declared Wednesday during a rally here that 500 plaintiffs are going to sue the Japanese government on April 26 for violating the Constitution.

The plaintiffs consisted of war victims, constitutional experts, handicapped and religious people are represented by over 600 lawyers which include former judges and several procurators.

They are going to file a complaint to the Tokyo District Court demanding a compensation of about 915 U.S. dollars from the government to each plaintiff suffering from the security bills, and that the government give up the exercise of the right of collective self-defense as the new security bills violate the Constitution and damage the Japanese people's right to peaceful survival and legal personality.

Makoto Ito, representative of "Legal actions against the security bills" said at the gathering attended by over 400 people that the new security laws would turn Japan into a war country.

"Respecting and protecting the Constitution is the duty of our legal people and we are going to scrap the controversial security laws and stop the Abe administration from breaking the Constitution through legal means," Ito said.

Shida Youko, one of the plaintiffs and a constitutional scholar, said the security laws have a negative impact on her teaching as the new explanation goes against the content of her former courses. "This is a personality and psychology damage to me," she said.

Another plaintiff Nahoko Hishiyama, organizer of anti-security bills demonstrations, said the security laws led to the self-immolations of two protesters and the sense of threat and despair brought by the security bills was unforgivable.

Leaders of Japan's Democratic Party, Communist Party, People's Life Party and Social Democratic Party all participated in Wednesday's gathering.

According to the organizer, many cities including Sapporo, Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka are preparing for the lawsuit of security bills and the legal actions against the government will soon spread to the whole country. Endit