The Supreme Court on Friday fined three peace activists a combined ¥500,000 for trespassing on a Self-Defense Forces housing compound in western Tokyo and distributing antiwar leaflets.

In upholding a lower court verdict of illegal intrusion, the Supreme Court's Second Petty Bench, led by Justice Isao Imai, ruled the activists violated the rights of the residents by passing out the fliers.

Freedom of speech "must be respected as an exceptionally significant right" but is "not granted as an absolute and unlimited privilege," the court ruled.