High court reversal convicts peace activists of SDF trespass

The Tokyo High Court handed down guilty verdicts Friday to three peace activists for trespassing on a Self-Defense Forces housing compound where they had been distributing antiwar leaflets, overruling their lower court acquittals.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051210a2a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='125'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Nobuhiro Onishi –

, Sachimi Takada (center) and Toshiyuki Obora face reporters Friday in Tokyo after the high court ruled their antiwar-leaflet distribution constituted trespassing.

Nobuhiro Onishi was fined 100,000 yen, while Sachimi Takada and Toshiyuki Obora were fined 200,000 yen. The defendants said they will appeal to the Supreme Court.