Although the decision does mention criminal verdicts against Church members (not the Church itself), they were not part of the argument for the dissolution.
Twisting and misinterpreting the law, the Tokyo District Court realized the purpose of Shinzo Abe’s assassin to destroy the Unification Church.
The dissolution of the Unification Church damages all religions, Japan, and its international image. All friends of religious liberty should protest a scandalous verdict.
The “public welfare” principle implies that if a religion displeases the majority, it can be eradicated. It is what is happening to the Unification Church.
By keeping in its Constitution and laws the principle that religions may have their activities restricted and even be suppressed in the name of “public welfare,” Japan violates its international obligations.
There is no logical reason to change decades of case law and hold that civil torts, not crimes only, may be reasons to dissolve a religious organization.
A Supreme Court decision may open the way to the dissolution of the religious organization by overturning decades of case law.
Second part of a report sent by French attorney Patricia Duval to four UN Special Rapporteurs: under the Japanese “Plan,” religious belief may be considered a form of psychiatric disease.
A report sent by French attorney Patricia Duval to four United Nations Special Rapporteurs on an alarming part of the Japanese anti-cult campaign.
A Japanese academic who is himself a former member of the Unification Church reviews UC member Shunsuke Uotani’s magnum opus criticizing Sakurai’s views.