A district court on Tuesday rejected a suit filed by Nagasaki citizens seeking the return of some 2.86 million yen that the city spent to make a database of citizens who opposed a plan to replace a monument at the atomic bomb hypocenter.
Presiding Judge Masanori Kawakubo at the Nagasaki District Court rejected the suit, saying, "The city's conduct was part of its duty, as it was done to compile a report on the issue to be submitted to the city assembly and is not illegal."
The eight citizens who filed the suit claimed the expenditure was illegal, as the Constitution guarantees the protection of privacy and freedom of speech. A city ordinance also bans keeping such data concerning individuals' thoughts and beliefs on computer.
The plaintiffs, who filed the suit in February 1998, claimed the city and Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito's conduct were intimidating to citizens wanting to express their opinions freely.
The group submitted a petition with 109,000 signatures of people opposed to the sculpture in November 1996. These names and addresses were subsequently filed in a computer by the city authorities, the ruling said.