SAPPORO (Kyodo) The Sapporo District Court ordered a Hokkaido newspaper, two of its reporters and two publishers Monday to pay damages to a former senior police officer for defaming him over the prefectural force's systematic misappropriation of funds.
Presiding Judge Mitsuhiro Takeda told Hokkaido Shimbun Press, the reporters, and Kodansha Ltd. and Junposha Co., which published the books in which the defamation appeared, to pay a combined ¥720,000 in compensation to Tomoyoshi Sasaki, former head of the prefectural police's administrative department.
Redress for a Kodansha book titled "Pursuing Suspicion of Hokkaido Police Fund Misuse" amounted to ¥600,000, while the remaining ¥120,000 was for a Junposha book titled "Arrest Senior Police Officers."