III チェルノブイリのエートスが福島にDeadly ETHOS Came to Fukushima!
6月 17, 2013mariscontact コメントする 編集
III) チェルノブイリのエートスが福島に来た！
Deadly Ethos in Belarus Came to Fukushima!
長期にわたり汚染した土地で工夫しながら暮らしていくという「福島エートス」計画（http://ethos-fukushima.blogspot.jp/）は大変危険です。汚染地帯の人々の故郷を離れたくないという心情を利用して、住民、特に子供たちの健康を犠牲にするものです。
Fukushima Ethos (http://ethos-fukushima.blogspot.jp/) , in which residents are encouraged to live resourcefully in contaminated areas, is a dangerous program. This program seems to be solely taking an advantage of Fukushima residents who do not want to be relocated and at the same time, sacrificing health of the residents, especially children.
ベラルーシのエートス計画（http://www.irpa.net/irpa10/pdf/E11.pdf）では、専門家の指導を受けて、作物の汚染の測定を住民が積極的に行い、作物の放射能汚染度を減らしたり、ホールボディーカウンターで内部被曝を計測し、数値を下げることに成功したと言います。
In ETHOS Belarus, experts advised people to voluntarily measure radiation to reduce radiation levels, and they saw some success. Also doctors cooperated measuring residents’ internal exposure using whole body counters (WBC) and recorded some decrease in their bodies.
しかしながら、このような研究で測定や記録をしている間に、長年たってみたら、病気の子供が爆発的に、場合によっては10倍以上も増えてしまったというプロジェクトです。この件に関しては、元ＷＨＯ顧問のミッシェル・フェルネックス博士が痛烈に以下の動画で批判しておりますので、まずはぜひご覧ください。http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_oKtjnh52c&feature=yout…
However, while these figures were measured and recorded for studies of this program, the number of children with ill-health increased dramatically, sometimes more than 10 times, after years in Belarus. As for this issue, former WHO advisor Michel Fernex explained in the following video, which I would recommend strongly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_oKtjnh52c&feature=yout…
また、私も何度も見ている日本語タイトル『ＷＨＯ－真実はどこに？』の映画では、良心的な科学者と、子供たちの犠牲者も出ているのに被曝の被害を隠そうとする科学者たちが数多く出演しています。ＷＨＯが原子力推進のＩＡＥAと結託している様子も描かれているので是非世界の市民に見ていただきたいです。
Also, in the following film I have been watching many times, there are a number of conscience scientists and scientists who try to cover up health hazards of radiation exposed children. The fact that WHO is in collaboration with IAEA, nuclear promoting organization is also depicted. I would like this film to be watched by citizens in the world.
Original title: Controversies nucléaires by Wladimir Tchertkoff
このベラルーシでのエートスは、ジャック・ロシャールという方が代表されていましたが、彼の代表を務めているＣＥＰＮはNGOということになっているものの、驚くべきことに原子力推進組織の4団体がメンバーとなっています！ロシャール氏はＩＣＲＰ第四委員会委員長でもあり、2011年11月には日本の内閣府で低線量リスクについてのプレゼンテーションも行っております。ロシャール氏とともに、 ロシャール氏とＣＥＰＮとＩＲＰＡで同僚である、テリー・シュナイダー氏もこの内閣府でのプレゼンテーションに参加しておりますが、なぜか内閣府のプレゼンテーションは両者のものともネット上から削除されております。
This Belarus ETHOS project has been conducted by the director of CEPN, Mr. Jacque Lochard（http://www.oecd-nea.org/press/press-kits/lochard.pdf）, the director of a NGO called CEPN. Amazingly, the members of CEPN are from four nuclear stakeholders- EDF, IRSN, CEA, AREVA (http://www.cepn.asso.fr/spip.php?lang=en.). Mr. Lochard was invited to give a presentation on risk of low level radiation, along with his colleague, Terry Schnider from CEPN and IRPA, at the Japanese Cabinet Office in November 2011. http://www.cas.go/jp/jp/genpatsujiko/info/twg/dai5/siryou2.pdf. (The Cabinet Office presentation was deleted now.)
このロシャール氏とシュナイダー氏は、2000年に広島でもベラルーシ・エートスの報告（1996ー1998年）をしていますhttp://www.irpa.net/irpa10/pdf/E11.pdf。この中で、Ｐ９には「１日５０ベクレル（年間２万Ｂｑ、年間０．２ｍＳｖに相当）までを目標値として、１日３００Ｂｑ（年間１０万Ｂｑ、年間１．３ｍＳｖに相当）以上は超えないようにしたい」とあります。
As for Mr. Jack Lochard and Mr. Terry Schneider, he reported on ETHOS Belarus (1996-1998) in Hiroshima in 2000 http://www.irpa.net/irpa10/pdf/E11.pdf. In page 9, the report said, “A daily intake of 50 Bq (corresponding to an annual budget of about 20000 Bq and an annual dose of about 0.2 mSv) was retained as the target value of 300 Bq per day (100000 Bq and 1.3 mSv per year) as the frontier beyond which it was not recommended to go.”
なぜ、テリー氏は、昨年来日した際、日本の５００ベクレル/kgのときに注意を勧告しなかったのでしょうか？また２０１２年４月から改善された１００ベクレル／ｋｇという基準でも、大人は１日約２ｋｇ以上の飲食をするのですから、１日最大で１日５０ベクレルと比較すると高すぎます。なぜこれらの値に注意勧告をしてくれないのでしょう。
Why didn’t he give warning to Japanese government when they set the food regulation as 500Bq/kg in 2011 when he visited Japan? Also, why doesn’t he give warning to the current 100Bq/kg in Japan, which is way too high considering their recommended 50Bq/day, since adults consume more than 2kg of food/drinks.
また、健康に関する記述はほとんどなく、１か所だけ、「医療面での改善を見るのは、母親たちが注意を続けていたとしても、２，３年のうちに見るのは難しい。しかし、この３年間で放射線防護においてかなりの変化が見受けられ、いくつもの興味深い教訓が引き出せたことは大変興味深いことだ。」（Ｐ１１）と書かれてあります。この部分を読んだだけでも、エートスが、何よりも優先されるべき健康面を配慮した計画でないものであることがこれからもよくわかるのであります。
In addition, on page 11 of the report, “From medical point of view it will be difficult to see improvements, if any, before a few years, taking for granted that mothers will maintain their vigilance. However, it is interesting to mention that during the three years a profound change with regard to radiological protection took place and several interesting lessons can be drawn.” By reading this, we can see that ETHOS project does not concentrate on human health, which is supposed to be the top priority more than anything else.
また遡れば、このロシャール氏は1990-1991年の「放射線と直接関係がある障害は見られなかった。ストレスが影響を及ぼした」と結論付けたＩＡＥＡ国際チェルノブイリ・プロジェクトに関わっていました。http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub885e_web.pdf http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub894_web.pdf
As a matter of fact, Mr. Lochard was involved in the IAEA Chernobyl Project in 1990-1991, which concluded that there was no direct health damages observed caused by radiation. http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub894_web.pdf
ロシャール氏はもともと経済学者です。ロシャール氏はこのプロジェクトにおける「移住に関する評価」のセッションで「コスト・ベネフィット分析」と題した報告を行い、ソ連の科学者らが年に１ｍＳVを限度として全員の移住を求めたのに、ＩＣＲＰとＷＨＯからの専門家がそれより高い、年５ｍＳVとしたところ、ロシャール氏はもっと線量を上げて（なんと上限は１００ｍＳＶ！）、コストを考え、移住を減らしてよいと主張していたといいます！すなわち、より安全でない側の主張をし、ソ連の科学者は妥協をして５ｍＳVで合意したと言います。そしてこの報告には、子供や妊婦には一切言及がないのです。
Mr. Jacque Lochard is an economist. He conducted cost benefit analysis on the evaluation for relocation in this IAEA Chernobyl Project. While the former Soviet Union scholars demanded the residents relocation above 1mSv/year, and experts from ICRP and WHO for above 5mSv/yr, Mr. Lochard insisted that it could be up to 100mSv considering the cost. Since Mr. Lochard suggested such an unbelievable figure, scientists made the compromise to 5mSv. In his report, there was no mentioning about children and pregnant women.
ロシャール氏は、ＮＧＯ団体、福島エートスの代表、安藤量子氏のところにも訪れています。すなわち、この福島エートスは国際的な原子力ロビーの支援を受けています。そして日本政府もエートスを支援しており、２０１１年11月には内閣府にてプレゼンテーションが行われています。
Mr. Lochard has been visiting Fukushima for promoting ETHOS Fukushima along with the Japanese counterpart, Ms. Ryoko Ando, the director of ETHOS Fukushima, another NGO. In November 2011, before the startup of Fukushima ETHOS, Japanese government held a meeting at the Cabinet Office inviting Mr. Lochard.
そして安藤氏には2012年1月に手紙を送っており、「２０ｍＳｖはよい知らせである。これで多くの人が早期に家に帰ることができる、と言っています。」http://ethos-fukushima.blogspot.jp/2012_01_01_archive.html
Mr. Lochard sent a letter to Ms. Ryoko Ando, the director of Fukushima ETHOS and he said, “The decision about the 20 mSv is a good news. This will allow many people to return to their home soon. “http://ethos-fukushima.blogspot.jp/2012_01_01_archive.html
しかし、日本ではこの２０ｍＳＶの基準ができた時には、無数の母親たちが、文部科学省に押し掛けて反対の声をあげました。しかし、国民の声を日本政府は全く無視しております。
However, when the Japanese government came up with 20mSv relocation standard, countless number of Japanese mothers opposed to it and gathered around the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. However, the Japanese government totally ignored these voices.
このようにエートスプロジェクトは、ベラルーシでも福島でも同一人物が活躍し、表面的には移住できない住民のためにというＮＧＯの顔を持ちながら、背景には、国際的な原子力推進組織、すなわち、IAEA, ICRP, UNSCEAR , IRPA , CEPN（EDF, IRSN, CEA, AREVAがメンバー）そして日本を含む原子力を持つ国が絡んでいるのです。
In this way, the same people from ETHOS project have been working both in Chernobyl and in Fukushima. While they try to appear to be helping those who cannot relocate by themselves under NGO organization CEPN (the members are French EDF, IRSN, CEA, AREVA ), in reality, this program has been backed up by international nuclear lobby such as IAEA, ICRP, UNSCEAR , IRPA and nuclear power states including Japan!
既にチェルノブイリの何百万と言う数知れない住民、特に子供たちが犠牲になっているのです。そして日本でも既に健康被害が死亡者の増加も含め、始まっています。私はこのニュースはまさに世界でトップレベルのスキャンダルであり、全世界の人に今すぐにこの恐ろしい現実を知ってもらうべきだと思っています。
In Chernobyl already, millions of residents and children have been suffering. And now in Japan, health damages have been observed including the increase of death rate. This is the world scandal of the centuries and I would like to let the citizens of the world to be aware of this horrendous facts.
国内外の学者がチェルノブイリと福島の住民たちに、間違った安全論を掲げ、多くの犠牲者を出したこと、汚染地帯の子供たちの命と健康を犠牲にしていることは、世界に知らされるべき重大ニュースであり、国際刑事裁判所に付託するべき犯罪だと思います。
It is a criminal acts of Japanese and overseas scholar to downplay the risk of
radiation, which consequently lead to a number of residents’ health hazards
both in Chernobyl and in Fukushima. I believe these facts should be known to
the world and eventually, those responsible should be referred to the
International Criminal Court.
Japanese prosecutor suspends contempt proceedings against journalist
Published on Friday 30 May 2014
Reporters Without Borders takes note of prosecutor Eiji Masuhara’s decision to suspend “criminal contempt” proceedings against freelance journalist Mari Takenouchi in connection with her coverage of the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
The prosecutor urged Takenouchi to continue her work and even wished her “good luck” with it. Takenouchi told Reporters Without Borders that her goal now was to “save the children living in contaminated areas and suffering from thyroid cancer.”
********
Updated on March 11, 2014
Latest News on ETHOS
French and Japanese nuke lobby ETHOS/ICRP meeting to be held in Paris on March 11, 2014.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/%E7%AB%B9%E9%87%8E%E5%86%85-%E7%9C%9F%E7%90%86/%E5%AE%89%E6%9D%B1%E9%87%8F%E5%AD%90%E6%B0%8F%E6%97%A9%E9%87%8E%E9%BE%8D%E4%BA%94%E6%B0%8F%E4%B8%B9%E7%BE%BD%E5%A4%A7%E8%B2%AB%E6%B0%8F%E3%81%AA%E3%81%A9%E3%81%8C%E3%83%91%E3%83%AA%E3%81%A73%E6%9C%8811%E6%97%A5%E3%82%A8%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88%E3%82%B9%E3%81%A8irsn%E3%81%A8%E4%BC%9A%E8%AD%B0/601718829917724
Japan's full-fledged ETHOS started with 11 Govt Ministries/agencies
http://savekidsjapan.blogspot.jp/2014/02/our-planet-tv.html
Internaitonal Petition was prepared by my friends in the US and Netherland! Please sign and spread!
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Office_of_the_Prosecutor_Iwaki_Branch_Fukushima_Japan_Support_Mari_Takenouchi_and_Radiation_Protection/?copy
For Japanese日本語をご覧になりたい方は、http://savekidsjapan.blogspot.jp/2014/02/ethos-leader-accused-takenouchi-of.html をご覧ください。
E-mail From Dr. Bandazhevsky to Mari Takenouchi
Summary
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The following is more detailed version.
On January 28th, 2014, I received a telephone call from Iwaki Minami police office in Fukushima, noticing me that the leader of Fukushima ETHOS Ms. Ryoko Ando (real name is Yoko Kamata) filed a legal complaint against me.
Mari Takenouchi@mariscontact
Ethos is a program where residents including pregnant women and children are encouraged to keep living in contaminated areas through carrying out decontamination and radiation measurement, which most importantly resulted in sickness among majority of children. This was condcted in Belarus and now is in Fukushima funded by pro-nuclear lobbies.
I received a following comment from observers including lawyers.
"This case comes under the violation of Article 21, Freedom of Speech. Except that the word "Criminal" was too strong, your word came from the sense of justice to protect countless number of children. If this case was indicted, it would be a chance for you to disseminate this issue to the society."
"Probably the reason why the accuser used "criminal contempt" in stead of ""defamation of character" is that the latter has the stipulation saying, "If the case is involved in public benefit, the accused shall not be punished." However, what you are supposed to do is the same in both case. You can explain that you are trying to prevent massive health damages among children in the future, which should be now and nobody has been doing this so far."
"To admit such dirty way of silencing someone's speech through legal harassment means to admit helpless people to die by giving up nuclear phase out and protection from radiation exposure."
"Isn't this a case of SLAPP(strategic lawsuit against public participation), where powerful pro-nuke people harass the weak like Ms. Takenouchi, who is a single mother. "
Ms. Takenouchi's statement is not against law, but is involved in public benefits, so if she is prosecuted, she should stand up and fight.
"An attempt to silence Ms. Takenouchi who disseminate facts about Fukushima. But truth will prevail."
"ETHOS Threat using criminal accusation against Ms. Takenouchi. I support her 100%"
"This is a case of suppression of free speech, which brings us grave concerns."
"It is truly worry some since this is the sign of coming Japan's Secrecy Act. We need to share this info and protect Ms. Takenouchi"
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"It is important to establish your own standard of radiation safety to achieve your true sense of security."
↑ I really do not understand what she has been saying.
Please relocate children from Fukushima! It is dangerous to live there.
The truth is as simple as this!
Professor Ban Nobuhiko, an expert of leukemia, another ETHOS sub-leader is the director and board member of Health Physics Society in Japan. (Please see the end of this page)
I once participated in an event by Health Physics Society and asked, "Isn't there any increase of leukemia after Chernobyl?" and a member answered, "Since Russian kids have fair skin, people say that there are leukemia children after Cheronobyl."
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Ms. Yoko Kamata (SNS name is Ryoko ANDO) insists that my following tweet is the subject to "criminal contempt."
Mari Takenouchi@mariscontact
Mari Takenouchi's tweet @mariscontact
Mr. Yasuhiro Nakasone passed the nuclear budget at the Diet in 1954, when anti-nuclear movement was mounting after the Lucky Dragon Bikini H-bomb case, under the slogan, "Poison can control other poison." This is a historical fact that CIA involvement has been proven.
http://fukushimanewsresearch.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/japan-ex-pm-nakasone-influential-shoriki-played-key-role-in-promoting-nuclear-power/
On September 5, 2011, after the Fukushima nuclear accident, he stated the above in spite of the fact that he was the very person who introduced nuclear power to earthquake prone country like Japan.
Ms. Ryoko Ando read the above poem of her own on the Day of Nagasaki, in spite of the fact that she is the very person who disseminated false safety myth in Fukushima to encourage people to keep living in contaminated zones.
I thought these two have something in common. Though they themselves have been involved in, nuclear power introduction to Japan (Mr. Nakasone) and scattering radiation safety myth in Fukushima (Ms. Ando), they pretend that they do not know anything and they are one of the victims/observers who live in this unfortunate society.
I would like to apologize regarding the expression of "criminals of the century" to both Ms. Kamata and Mr. Nakasone.
At the same time, I would like both of them to reflect themselves what they have done.
I used the word "criminal of the century" due to my long time resentment seeing that nobody has taken true responsibility after the nuclear accident while lots of children are left being exposed to radiation.
In addition, I had a slight hope that both Ms. Ando and Mr. Nakasone whom I criticized would rethink what they have done and reconsider the situation of children who have been exposed to radiation.
I do not think the above tweet of mine with my opinion and thoughts on some facts is subject to "criminal contempt."
I hope this case would be known to public widely.
I truly hope that the dissemination of this case could contribute to form the public opinion to make the government to relocate children in contaminated areas with responsible manner. In addition, those responsible for the accident should be brought to justice in order to avert the same kind of tragedy.
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Tokyo Newspaper Reported ETHOS on January 1, 2014
"ETHOS Meetings Backed by Pro-Nuke Funds"
"Prevailing Grassroots Radiation Safety Myth"
"Inviting ETHOS Missionaries from Overseas"
The following is my explanation of ETHOS.
Mr. Jack Rochard, an economist and former member of IAEA and member of ICRP and CEPN founded by pro-nuclear organization such as AREVA. He wrote "20mSv/year is a good news" and said, "Mothers do not understand science (I am a mother, too, how rude!), and food upto 20Bq/kg is OK in Fukushima."
In Belarus contaminated areas, due to ETHOS program lead by Mr. Lochard, less than 20% of kids stayed healthy in the contaminated areas after the program.
ETHOS Fukushima program was aired by NHK only in Fukushima and not nationwide.
The leader of Fukushima ETHOS is Ms. Ryoko Ando (strangely, she is not using her real name, Yoko Kamata.)
Jacque Rochard: "It is important to establish a society where residents themselves can measure radioactive materials and exchange information...Mothers would not understand science...20Bq/kg is good enough..."
Mr. Lochard was invited to give a presentation on risk of low level radiation, along with his colleague, Terry Schnider from CEPN and IRPA, at the Japanese Cabinet Office in November 2011. http://www.cas.go/jp/jp/genpatsujiko/info/twg/dai5/siryou2.pdf. (The Cabinet Office presentation was deleted now.)
In his report, there was no mentioning about children and pregnant women.
Increased number of leukemia in Japan
The other day, I was truly shocked to find that Professor Nobuhiko Ban from Tokyo Healthcare University had written on the mechanism of developing leukemia by radiation some years ago. According to his papers, he had already found that radiation damages the gene Sfpi1 on chromosome No. 2 and promotes the aging process of hematopoietic stem cells, thus mouse could develop leukemia only after 1 or 2 years after irradiation!!
Thesis written by Prof. Nobuhiko Ban
http://www.labome.org/expert/japan/oita/ban/nobuhiko-ban-572788.html
While, Professor Ban wrote a number of excelled thesis on radiation effects, he assistes ETHOS progam that allows even pregnant women and children to live in contaminated areas. I truly believe what he is doing is ethically wrong and this issue is a one of the most grave character which could affect the health and lives of many residents , uncomparable to the question No. 1.
Under the name of @buvery, he also kept calling me, "DEMARIN" (coined word from Dema=demagogy + Mari=my first name) on twitter. I am a freelance journalist/translator who released three radiation exposure related books from overseas and I have been calling for children's evacuation since the Fukushima accident, and Professor Ban has been slandering me trying to degrade my credibility.
His manner is clearly contrary to the one titled as the "Professor at Tokyo Healthcare University." I have written a open question letter to Tokyo Healthcare University, but I haven't received any reply as of today.(Jan 31, 2014）
One more important thing to add. Prof. Ban is denying the possibility of finding the causal relationship of radiation and child thyroid cancer that has been increasing in Fukushima, namely, 7q11 gene band inspection.
It seems that Prof. Ban is trying to hide the possibility that Fukushima children developed thyrod cancer caused by radiation.
7q11 gene test should be conducted immediately and early relocation of Fukushima children should be conducted.
http://savekidsjapan.blogspot.jp/2013/09/a-fukushima-teenager-found-to-have-lung.html
My top concern is that there is an increase of leukemia in Fukushima and other areas in East Japan.
http://savekidsjapan.blogspot.jp/2014/01/blog-post.html
When I wrote the above blog, a citizen activist I have been trusted even tried to stop me.
(To my regret, there are many infiltrated people in the citizen side, too)
I thought, the criminal accusation against me was made in order to silence me when leukemia came to emerge in contaminated areas.
**************************
How a Single Tweet Could Land a Japanese Nuclear Activist in Jail
No officials will be prosecuted for Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. But one activist may be sent to jail for tweeting about it.
The Fukushima police, however, declined to investigate. And prosecutors quietly dropped all charges against TEPCO, arguing that it was too difficult to prove criminal negligence even though several third-party watchdogs found that TEPCO and government officials had failed to carry out measures necessary to prevent the disaster despite knowing that a devastating earthquake could potentially strike near the plant. Even an independent investigative commission set up by the Japanese National Diet had concluded, "The meltdown was a manmade disaster."
* * *
Fukushima police and prosecutors are currently investigating Takenouchi for criminal contempt; if found guilty, she could face a month in jail. Prosecutors confirmed they will be flying to Okinawa, where Takenouchi lives, to question her on May 13. Police have already traveled from Fukushima to Okinawa to interrogate her — an unusual occurrence.
“We only send police officers from one prefecture to another if the subject is really a potentially dangerous criminal,” Fukushima police spokesman Lieutenant Tadashi Terashima told VICE News.
The Japanese can't stop eating endangered sea mammals. Read more here.
Takenouchi, the potentially dangerous criminal in question, is a journalist and blogger who fled her hometown of Tokyo with her infant son days after the disaster, hoping to avoid fallout from Fukushima. (She was too late; radiation had already reached Tokyo.) Today, she reports on the health of children in Fukushima. This is the translation of the tweet that has authorities flying across the country to interrogate her:
The translation:
There's a common point between the 2 criminals of the century. Yasuhiro Nakasone, who introduced nuclear plants in Japan, said: "I didn't expect Japan in 2011 to become such a battered country." Ryoko Ando, a (pro-establishment) citizen activist who hosts Ethos' human experiments in Fukushima, said: "Is this the kind of world we've arrived at over the 67 years since the end of World Ward Two?" Written on Nagasaki Day."
“Ryoko Ando blocked me on Twitter and rejected my offer to engage in an open debate with a mediator," Takenouchi told VICE News, "and instead filed a criminal accusation against me."
* * *
After the tweet appeared, Ando reported it to the Fukushima Prefectural Police, accusing Takenouchi of either criminal defamation or criminal contempt. This past January 29, Takenouchi received a telephone call from Fukushima police, notifying her that Ando had filed a complaint against her. Two weeks later, Takenouchi said police came to her apartment in Okinawa and examined her computer.
She was also asked to attend an interrogation at the Naha City police station. During the interrogation, Fukushima police asked her about her background as a reporter, her career as an anti-nuclear activist, and why she used the words “human experiment" in the tweet.
Ando, meanwhile, acknowledged to VICE News that she'd filed the complaint, but despite repeated requests to clarify her position and the position of Fukushima Ethos, she said she would not comment on the investigation until it's concluded.
The charge of criminal contempt is very different from a charge of libel in the US. Takaaki Hattori, a Japanese legal expert and co-author of Modern Media and The Law, says the charge is inappropriate. "It's unprecedented for the police to launch a contempt investigation against a journalist for a single tweet, made in the public interest," he said. "If all debates about nuclear energy in this country are going to become grounds for criminal investigations, freedom of speech will vanish. The fact that police even sent the case to the prosecution is disturbing."
Still, this isn’t the first time those with ties to the nuclear industry have used the law in an attempt to silence criticism in Japan. In 2012, the president of nuclear power safety company New Tech brought a $600,000 lawsuit against investigative journalist Minoru Tanaka, who exposed links between the Japanese mafia, politicians, and the Japanese nuclear industry.
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The investigation of Takenouchi is an unusual but not unique example of an ever-increasing crackdown on freedom of the press in Japan. Earlier this year, Reporters Without Borders issued a statement condemning "the censorship and self-censorship that continues to prevail in discussion of nuclear energy in Japan three years after the disaster… [and] the treatment of independent journalists and bloggers who are critical of the government and the nuclear energy lobby."
Japan's biggest organized crime syndicate now has its own website and theme song. Read more here.
In Reporters Without Borders' press freedom rankings for 2013, Japan fell to a new low of 59th place, due in part to the Special Secrets Act passed in the middle of the night in December, and “the ban imposed by the authorities on independent coverage of any topic related directly or indirectly to the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.” Amid these discouraging trends, Takenouchi waits to learn her fate.
“We are still considering whether to prosecute or not," a prosecutor's office spokesperson said. "We’re not aware of past cases in which tweets were found to be the basis for criminal contempt, but the law is the law."
Jake Adelstein contributed additional reporting to this article.
