Photo/Illutration The plaintiffs and their supporters hold up signs on March 25 in Sapporo’s Chuo Ward as the Sapporo District Court ruled that police illegally infringed on the plaintiffs’ freedom of expression. (Kengo Hiyoshi)

When I join a demonstration, I think: What if I were in a country like Russia or Myanmar?

In Russia today, just holding up a sign could cause you to be arrested and punished. In Myanmar, which is under military rule, you may see a gun pointed at you if you just utter a word of protest.

In these countries, there are invisible gags everywhere in town. Japan must not be allowed to drift toward such a situation. A ruling the Sapporo District Court handed down on March 25 sounded like a strong warning about that risk.

Three years ago, a man and a woman were removed by police officers after heckling then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his stump speech in Sapporo. The man yelled, “Abe should resign and go home,” while the woman shouted, “I’m against the (consumption) tax hike.”

These two individuals separately filed lawsuits by February 2020, seeking compensation from the Hokkaido government for violating their freedom of expression. The court ruled in their favor, acknowledging their freedom of expression guaranteed under the Constitution had indeed been violated.

One notable fact about the ruling is that the police actions in question were recognized as attempts to “restrict acts of expression themselves, as (the police officers) judged the content of the expressions to be unsuitable for the occasion.”

If police tried to prevent the plaintiffs from expressing their opinions simply because they were critical of Abe and his government, it was merely a watered-down version of Russian-style or Myanmar-style crackdowns on dissenting voices.

The plaintiffs called for a constitutional judgment on the police actions and the court gave a straightforward response to their requests.

If the ruling seems to be a simple, common sense decision, it was actually a “fairly bold judgment,” according to an expert’s comment published in The Asahi Shimbun. That is because the ruling could have been written without referring to the Constitution. The judiciary performed an important role.

No social system works without the people who operate it. Judges and police officers responsible for handling such situations are supposed to think independently about what they should do in fulfilling their duties. This principle should also be upheld in Russia and Myanmar, but sadly that is not the case.

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 27

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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