On the afternoon of Dec. 23, 2004, Mr. Yosei Arakawa, a 58-year-old Buddhist monk, entered a seven-story condominium building in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, to drop political flyers of the Japan Communist Party into the door mailboxes of residents. He had done this before, but this time an angry resident telephoned police, who took him into custody.
A 23-day detention of Mr. Arakawa was followed by his indictment on a charge of trespassing. After a 1 1/2-year-long trial, he was acquitted by the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Mr. Arakawa's case represents the fourth one in Tokyo since February 2004 in which ordinary citizens or civil servants engaged in distributing political leaflets have been indicted on a charge of either trespassing or violating the national public servant law. Although the court in Mr. Arakawa's case did not cite Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and other forms of expression, in handing down the "not guilty" ruling, we hope the ruling will deter police and prosecutors from making liberal use of trespassing and other charges to prevent citizens from distributing political leaflets.