Kishida Revises Stance On Requirements For Seeking Court Disbandment Order
Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has revised his Diet remark on requirements for seeking a court order to disband a religious corporation.
Kishida was speaking before a Diet committee on Wednesday, answering an opposition question on the former Unification Church.
The religious group is under close scrutiny for alleged shady marketing practices and soliciting large donations from followers.
The previous day Kishida said, citing the Religious Corporations Act, that civil law violations do not meet the requirements for a disbandment order. Such an order takes away a group's status as a religious corporation.
At Wednesday's committee meeting, an opposition lawmaker called Kishida's comment a manifestation of cozy relations between the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the religious group. He asked Kishida whether he plans to retract or revise it.
Kishida said relevant ministries and agencies had a new discussion after he made the comment, and concluded that civil law violations could meet the requirements for seeking a court order.
He said decisions to seek court orders should be made on a case-by-case basis when groups appear to have deviated significantly from their purpose as religious organizations, and their practices are obviously systematic, malicious and incessant.
Kishida added that he believes a request for a court order could be made even before a criminal trial ruling is finalized.