Attacker of Anti-NHK Group Leader Gets 9 Years

Tokyo, Oct. 9 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo District Court on Friday sentenced a 32-year-old man to nine years in prison for attempting to murder Takashi Tachibana, head of a political group criticizing public broadcaster NHK, or Japan Broadcasting Corp., in March last year.

Presiding Judge Kazunobu Eguchi said that Shion Miyanishi committed a crime that is "highly dangerous and extremely heinous." Public prosecutors had sought a 12-year prison sentence for him.

Eguchi said that Miyanishi had jumped to the conclusion that Tachibana's harsh criticism caused the suicide of a former Hyogo prefectural assembly member who sat on the assembly's panel investigating allegations against the Hyogo governor.

While Miyanishi had opportunities to give up on attacking Tachibana after his two previous attempts failed, he instead had refined his plan, the judge said.

The judge added that Miyanishi's social isolation and autism spectrum disorder influenced his beliefs but did not affect his decision to commit the crime.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]