Oct 20, 2023

Ruling Bloc to Consider Preservation of Unification Church Assets


Nippon.com

October 19, 2023

 

Tokyo, Oct. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japan's ruling parties have agreed to study the need for a law to preserve the assets of the controversial religious group Unification Church, after the government asked a court last week to order the group's dissolution.

"We should do something about the issue," Toshimitsu Motegi, secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, told his counterpart from Komeito, Keiichi Ishii, at their meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday. Ishii responded that his party will consider its response and inform the LDP of the outcome.

In the opposition camp, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) have drafted their own bills to preserve the Unification Church's assets.

These moves come amid concerns that if the group, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, transfers assets overseas before facing a dissolution order, there could be a shortage of funds to provide relief to victims of its problematic practices, such as the collection of massive donations.

Within the LDP, there was initially a strong sense of caution about an asset preservation law, as such a law might violate the Constitution, which stipulates property rights.

https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2023101801160/

 

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