High Court Upholds Guilty Sentence For Anti - Nhk Party Leader
A high court in Japan has upheld a lower court ruling that found the leader of a political party critical of NHK guilty of illegally acquiring viewer data and obstructing business of the public broadcaster.
The Tokyo High Court on Monday sentenced NHK Party leader Tachibana Takashi to two and a half years in prison, suspended for four years. He had appealed the suspended sentence imposed by a district court.
Tachibana is accused of interfering in the business of NHK in 2019 by threatening that he would disperse personal data of some of its viewers on the Internet.
He has been found to have illegally obtained the data from a former employee of a company that was entrusted with the collection of viewer fees.
Tachibana, a former Upper House member, pleaded innocent during the trial. He said he was engaged in a lawful political activity.
Presiding Judge Tamura Masaki of the high court said Tachibana used the data like a hostage to make demands on NHK.
Tamura said the defendant illegally gained personal information of members of the public with an intention to use it for his own activities, such as criticizing the broadcaster.