Unification Church accuses Japan of ‘bias’, vows to fight on as disbandment looms
- If the court grants the request, the church will no longer be a religious corporation and be deprived of tax benefits, but will not be required to stop operating
- An investigation by the government that began in October last year concluded that the church engaged in repeated malicious, illegal acts
Japanese lawmakers on Friday filed a request with the Tokyo District Court to formally disband the controversial Unification Church after about a year of investigation, even as the religious organisation vowed to fight the request and “make our legal claims in court”.
If the court backs the government’s request, the church – whose formal name is the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification – will lose its legal status as a religious corporation and be deprived of tax benefits. But the church will not be required to halt its religious operations in the country.
“The vast majority of Japanese people believe this is the appropriate decision because we have seen all sorts of information about the church coming out in the media in the last year or so,” said Hiromi Murakami, a professor of political science at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.
The more people hear, the more they think the Unification Church should be held responsible
“People have been shocked, stunned about everything that has emerged about the group since the assassination of [former Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe last year,” she said. “The more people hear, the more they think the Unification Church should be held responsible.”
The church said it was “extremely disappointed” with the government’s decision to submit the request, accusing it of acting on “biased information from a left-wing lawyer group established with the purpose of destroying this organisation”.
The church was referring to the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales that has been representing claimants against the church since 1987, but has received little media coverage given legal threats and pressure from the church.
But public awareness of the lawyer group grew after Abe was shot dead in July last year while on the campaign trail in Kobe city.
