HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) The Hiroshima High Court on Thursday more than halved to ¥3.6 million the compensation owed by Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto to four lawyers for remarks he made in 2007 scorning their tactics in defending a convicted murderer.
Hashimoto, himself a lawyer, was ordered last October by the Hiroshima District Court to pay the lawyers ¥8 million for defamation and obstructing their business stemming from remarks he made on a 2007 TV show before he was elected governor, criticizing the lawyers' arguments and calling on viewers to campaign for them to be punished.
Presiding Judge Satoshi Hirota ruled that Hashimoto, who was a TV celebrity at the time, acted illegally by calling for punishment of the lawyers. But the judge did not recognize his remarks as defamation as the lower court had.