Press Release on the Supreme Court Appeal Hearing in case staged by hostile lawyers
Prepared by Knut Holdhus
Official statement regarding appeal hearing at the Japanese Supreme Court on 10th June 2024
Press Release 10th June 2024, by the Public Relations Department of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification of Japan, translated from Japanese. See Japanese original version.
Today, a hearing was held at the First Petty Bench (第一小法廷) of the Supreme Court concerning a lawsuit in which our organization is the appellee (Case No. 2022 (Ju) No. 2281).
This lawsuit was filed in 2017 by Ms. A, a former member of our organization (who was introduced to the church by her third daughter in 2004), and her eldest daughter. They claim that the donations made by Ms. A should be considered “damages based on unlawful acts”. From the beginning of the lawsuit, Ms. A’s eldest daughter has represented her, and Ms. A herself has never appeared in court or testified about her experiences.
On the other hand, Ms. A, during her lifetime, deliberately created a document (commonly referred to as a “memorandum”), stating that all her donations to our organization were made out of free will based on her faith. This memorandum was certified by a notary at the local notary office.
Why some members create such memoranda?
According to our investigation, members of our organization who create such memoranda often do so due to special circumstances, primarily the presence of family members who strongly oppose their faith.
Our organization has documented over 4,300 members who have been subjected to abduction and confinement by family members who strongly oppose their faith. They have also faced severe human rights violations, including forced renunciation of their faith, often led by certain Christian pastors and professional de-conversion (faith-breaking) specialists.
Members who create these memoranda are fully aware of these severe situations and often do so because they have family members or relatives who strongly oppose their faith, or they anticipate such strong opposition.
For instance, in a separate lawsuit (Case No. 2016 (Wa) No. 21355), the validity of a similar memorandum created by the plaintiff, a former believer, was contested. The Tokyo District Court dismissed the false claims made by the plaintiff’s attorneys, Hiroshi Yamaguchi (山口広) and Takeshi Kimura (木村壮), and treated the memorandum as valid, resulting in a complete victory for our organization. In that case, the plaintiff created the memorandum due to strong opposition from her husband, who later violently assaulted her, leading to her forced departure from the faith.
In the Supreme Court case mentioned above, Ms. A also feared strong opposition to her faith from the appellants if her beliefs were discovered. Anticipating such opposition, she participated in a “protest against abduction and confinement” held on December 3, 2010.
Ms. A created the memorandum and sought notarial certification because she wished to protect from opposing family members her faith and the donations made based on her faith.
Claims by the Appellants
The appellants claim that the memorandum in question was created on instructions from our organization and violates public order and morals (extortion). However, as stated above, this claim is entirely contrary to the facts.
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Featured image above: Scene from a Japanese courtroom. Image by Microsoft Designer Image Creator