The Tokyo District Court decided to order the former Unification Church to pay an administrative fine for not responding appropriately to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's exercise of its right to question. This is the first time that a fine has been imposed over the right to ask questions. The church is expected to appeal.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has so far exercised its right to question the former Unification Church seven times in order to consider the request for a dissolution order, and has refused to answer more than 100 of the more than 500 items requested for a report. We have notified the Tokyo District Court to impose a fine.
On the other hand, the cult submitted a document to the court arguing that ``the exercise of the right to question itself is illegal because it does not meet the requirements for a dissolution order, which is a prerequisite for the right to question.''
The court considered the case based on both sides' arguments, and on the 26th decided to order Tomihiro Tanaka, chairman of the cult, to pay a fine of 100,000 yen.
This is the first time that a fine has been ordered over the right to ask questions, and the cult is expected to immediately appeal the decision.
At the Tokyo District Court, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has filed a request for an order to disband the cult, and the hearing is continuing, and it will be interesting to see if the latest fine will have an impact.