The Yokohama District Court on Feb. 4 ruled that five now-deceased men, three of them journalists, were falsely charged in a case known as the Yokohama Incident, which is regarded as the worst example of wartime free-speech suppression, and ordered the government to pay compensation to six relatives of the five men.

In the past, courts had mostly focused on legal technicality and dismissed the retrials of the five, avoiding judgment on whether they were guilty or innocent.

The Feb. 4 ruling for criminal compensation, finalized Feb. 13, should be regarded as a de facto acquittal. By looking squarely at the investigative and court authorities' actions under the notorious 1925 Peace Preservation Law, the ruling serves as a stern warning to any court that might attempt to close its eyes to the dark side of the judicial and investigative orgnas' history.