Oct 19 (Japan Times) - The Supreme Court said Wednesday it will reprimand a 52-year-old judge for his controversial social media post earlier this year, marking a first in Japan.
Judge Kiichi Okaguchi held a news conference later in the day and argued that the decision runs counter to his “freedom of expression.â€
In May, he posted a comment on Twitter about a civil lawsuit over the ownership of a dog.
In the post, he criticized the dog’s original owner for trying to get the animal back from the current guardian after “abandoning it.â€
He was not presiding over the suit, according to the top court.
The Twitter post “went beyond the tolerable limit for free speech†as it “gave rise to suspicion among the public that judges may have prejudices based on superficial and one-sided information and understanding,†the court said.
Source: ANNnewsCH