Japan Govt Sued over Sexual Assault by Lawmaker's Ex-Secretary

Tokyo, March 8 (Jiji Press)--A former news reporter filed a 11-million-yen damages lawsuit against the government with Tokyo District Court on Wednesday, claiming she had been sexually assaulted by a then secretary to a lawmaker.

The former secretary to Kiyoshi Ueda, a member of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country's parliament, had been referred to prosecutors by police mainly on suspicion of quasi-forcible sexual intercourse. But the case was dropped as he killed himself.

According to the complaint, the former reporter was indecently assaulted by the former secretary in a taxi and elsewhere in March 2020 after attending a meeting with lawmakers at the invitation of a supporter group of Ueda.

She was sexually assaulted by the former secretary three days later in a hotel after he called her with a promise to provide information and made her drink alcohol.

Ueda is considered responsible because he failed to exercise necessary care, the plaintiff side said, adding that a different politician told her that it was difficult to understand why she filed a complaint about such a commonplace incident.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]