The Yokohama District Court on Oct. 31 decided to retry a case related to the worst example of Japan's wartime repression of freedom of speech — the Yokohama Incident. In the retrial, the court should delve into what actually happened, including what the police, prosecution and court did during and immediately after World War II.
In the incident, more than 60 journalists were arrested between 1942 and 1945, and more than 30 of them were indicted on charges of promoting communism in violation of the now-defunct Peace Preservation Law. Four were tortured to death in detention and one died immediately after release on probation. Many of the indicted were convicted by the Yokohama District Court immediately after the war.
The retrial petition was filed by relatives of a journalist who was with Kaizo (Reform) magazine. He was arrested in 1943, given a suspended two-year prison term in September 1945 and granted amnesty following the Oct. 15, 1945, abolition of the law.