Takashi Tachibana Appears in Tokyo District Court; Expert Reveals Why He Was “Detained for 11 Months” on Defamation Charges, Despite Likely Being Exonerated Again in September

No Indictment Due to Insufficient Evidence

In connection with the Hyogo Prefecture whistleblower document scandal, Takashi Tachibana (59) of the “Party to Protect the People from NHK” was arrested on November 9 of last year on charges including defamation for spreading false rumors on social media about former prefectural assembly member Hideaki Takeuchi, who passed away last January.He was indicted on the 28th of that month, but the first hearing has not yet been held.

Amid this, on October 2, a trial was held at the Tokyo District Court regarding an attempted murder case in which he himself was the victim last March, and he appeared in court using the victim participation system.

“There were rumors circulating in some circles that he had ‘lost a lot of weight,’ but he didn’t strike me as being that thin.However, unlike around the time of the Hyogo Prefectural gubernatorial election, his hair had grown longer, and he did seem somewhat tired. Still, when he was being questioned in court, he was back to the energetic Tachibana I’d seen on TV,” said a person who observed the trial.

Separate from the defamation case for which he was arrested, Mr. Tachibana gave a street speech in front of the home and office of Prefectural Assembly Member Kenichi Okutani (41)—who served as chair of Hyogo Prefecture’s Article 100 Committee—and shouted,

“Come out, Okutani,”

“It would be a problem if I threatened you so much that you ended up committing suicide,”

He was subsequently referred to prosecutors on suspicion of intimidation, defamation, and obstruction of business by intimidation.Although he was not indicted last December, the Prosecutorial Review Commission ruled that the decision not to indict was “unjustified.” However, on September 25, following a re-investigation, the Kobe District Public Prosecutors’ Office again decided not to indict him (due to insufficient evidence), bringing the investigation into the Okutani case to a close.

Satoshi Hamada (49), former secretary-general of the NHK Party and current president of the Japan Liberal Party, posted on X on September 27:

“More than 10 months have already passed since Party Leader Takashi Tachibana was arrested on suspicion of defamation. This unusually prolonged detention once again highlights the dark side of ‘hostage justice’ in Japan’s criminal justice system,”

He then went on to write a lengthy post criticizing the criminal justice system and the media.

“During the Hyogo Prefecture scandal, some media outlets, such as TBS, were at odds with defendant Tachibana and subjected him to relentless bashing. However, most programs avoided even mentioning defendant Tachibana, adopting an attitude of ‘better safe than sorry.’If a reporter or director requested an interview and asked a question that might offend him, their names would be exposed on social media or YouTube, potentially putting them in physical danger. In fact, there was even a program where the entire interview was livestreamed on the defendant Tachibana’s camera while it was taking place.“There were some program executives who thought, ‘If we go interview Mr. Tachibana, we’ll probably get high ratings,’ but in the end, not a single director or reporter volunteered,” said a news program director.

Defendant Tachibana continued to attract attention by posting videos on YouTube almost daily. A major factor in leading Governor Motohiko Saito (48) to re-election was likely his support for Saito during the “two-candidate race” in which Tachibana himself was also running. His popularity may have peaked around this time.

The Court’s “Concerns”

In an interview with *Shukan Bunshun* in ’24, he said

“I’m not afraid of going to prison one bit. If anything, I’d almost like to go.”

“Even if I were arrested, I’m confident I could prove my innocence,”

But what must his state of mind be like now that he remains in custody?

To begin with, even when a case becomes a criminal matter due to defamation, it often results in the case being referred to prosecutors without even reaching the stage of “arrest,” which involves physical restraint. On social media as well,

“The detention is too long for a crime that isn’t a serious offense like murder,”

〈What’s going on with the Japanese judicial system, which is supposed to be based on the principle of presumption of innocence?〉

and other such questions are being raised.

It seems that before his arrest, the majority of public opinion was critical of Defendant Tachibana, but perhaps people are now beginning to feel that nearly a year of detention is simply extraordinary.

Therefore, this website asked Attorney Kenta Morimi of the Morimi Law Office why Defendant Tachibana has been detained for such a long period.

“Although a considerable amount of time has passed since Defendant Tachibana was indicted, the fact that the date for the first hearing has not yet been set gives the impression that the delay is longer than usual (around two months).As a general rule, the detention period for an indicted defendant is two months, but it can be extended on a monthly basis if certain conditions are met, such as the risk of evidence being destroyed. To counter this, the defendant can seek release through the bail system. However, there are several exceptional grounds for denying bail.“As for whether this case falls under the category of ‘when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the defendant will destroy evidence,’ given that the videos in which Defendant Tachibana is alleged to have spread false information have already been widely circulated and it is highly likely that investigative authorities have preserved them, I do not think it can be categorically stated that this situation definitively meets that criterion,”

He thus speculates that the destruction of evidence is not a reason to deny bail. Furthermore,

“Another ground for denying bail is ‘when there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the defendant will harm the physical person or property of the victim, or any other person deemed to possess knowledge necessary for the trial of the case, or their relatives, or will engage in conduct intended to intimidate such persons.’If this were the reason, it is possible that the court fears that, after being released on bail, Defendant Tachibana might go to the bereaved family or others and once again engage in behavior such as live-streaming while shouting loudly. However, even taking such possibilities into account, since the specific grounds for denying bail are not clearly stated in the first place, I must conclude that the true reason for Defendant Tachibana’s prolonged detention remains unknown,”

he analyzes.

Defendant Tachibana left the Kobe Detention Center for the first time in about 11 months to appear in court as a victim in a separate case. When, exactly, will he finally be released?