The Tokyo District Court ruled Friday that a list compiled by the Defense Agency of people who asked it for information was a violation of their privacy.

In handing down the ruling on a suit filed by 53-year-old writer Tsutomu Kuji, of Saitama Prefecture, presiding Judge Akio Doi said, "Compiling and distributing a list, including personal information such as addresses and telephone numbers, violates privacy and is illegal."

The court ordered the government to pay 100,000 yen in compensation to Kuji, who was on the list.

Kuji asked the agency to disclose information on three occasions between September 2001 and November the same year, including data on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and on a disaster drill in Tokyo.

His name, number of requests and other personal information was placed on the list and circulated among agency officials.

Kuji had demanded 2 million yen in compensation. But the court ruled that 100,000 yen was an appropriate amount because "the degree of privacy in the information was not so high."

In July 2002, Kuji filed a 1 million yen compensation lawsuit against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and agency officials who compiled the list. The Tokyo District Court rejected that case in October the same year, saying, "Individual civil servants do not bear responsibility."

The existence of the list was revealed in media reports in May 2002.

Twenty-nine agency officials were later handed pay cuts and other punishments.