| We condemn unjustified arrest and indictment of
15 Hosei Students
Call for Signature and fund raising to support the student and
demand their immediate release
On May 28 and 29 successively, 38 students were arrested on the Ichgaya
campus of Hosei University, an unprecedented outrageous repression. 38
arrested students were detained separately in 38 police stations with
an apparent aim of exercising pressure on them to capitulate and convert
in isolation. In spite of this nasty measure, none of them surrendered
to intimidation of police and courageously fought back in unity, exercising
their right to remain silent. 15 of arrested 38 students were indicted
after 22 days’ detention and one minor student was sent to a juvenile
corrective institution. On June 18, another arrest took place by warrant
on the case of May 29. Further on June 24, one of the indicted 15 students
was rearrested in detention.
The Hosei University administration is planning to take disciplinary measures
on released students and has begun summoning them to the university office.
(In March two years ago, the students arrested on Hosei campus were expelled
or suspended by the university administration).
The students were arrested, indicted and could be expelled or suspended
only for demonstrating on campus against G8 Summit. Isn’t it an outrageous
repression? We can never admit this.
We ask your support for the students to have them released immediately
and to prevent disciplinary measures on them.
Violent crackdown on the demonstration on May 29 against the G8
Summit and against unlawful arrest of the previous day: 38 arrested, 15
indicted
On May 29, the Hosei student association against repression
on March 14 (2006) called upon students to gather to a rally in lunch
time on campus and make a demonstration surrounding the university building
with a slogan, “Crush G8 Summit at Lake Toya” “Withdraw disciplinary measures”.
On the previous day, May 28, the university administration had asked the
police to arrest 5 students for suspected injury in fear of developing
struggle on Hosei campus. Succeeding this crackdown, police invaded into
the campus upon request of the university administration on May 29 and
assaulted upon demonstrating students, arresting 33 of them for “trespassing
on the university building”.
Two of them, Mr. ARAI Hiraku and NAKAJIMA Hiroaki were indicted for “assault”
on university personnel on April 11 instead of previous suspect of “injury”.
The allegation against them is that the students hit two university personnel
on the face, hurting them to be treated for five days. It is a total lie.
The fact is as follows: on that day, April 11, Mr. Arai and Nakajima were
attacked instantly upon their appearance on front gate of the campus by
university personnel and guardsmen with Kihara, chief of the Ichigaya
Student Center at their head, who violently crashed at their transportable
megaphone. Mr.Arai scarcely escaped being strangled by loudly protesting
against violence. Mr.Nakajima had to fight bitterly against one of the
guardsmen to get back his glasses that he threatened to break. Thus the
two students never turned to violence. On the contrary, they were both
assaulted. The allegation against them is a complete frame-up.
The accusation against 13 students to have trespassed on the university
building is also totally groundless. Why is it called trespassing if students
enter the university building after demonstrating on the campus? Moreover,
there is another case of absurdity. One of the arrested students, after
being detained in suspicion of “obstructing officers from performing their
duty” for 22 days, was suddenly indicted for another charge of trespassing
on the building on the expiration of the detention period. What an arbitrary
and shameless procedure.
85 students arrested and 18 of them indicted in two years and
still students fight on courageously
For the recent two years, students of Hosei University have
been confronted with brutal repressions of the university administration:
prohibition of campus billboards, distributing of flyers and open-air
speeches, obligatory registration of campus clubs, recurrent disciplinary
measures (expulsion or suspension) on dissident students. More than 60
surveillance cameras are installed on the campus. A dozen of paid thugs
are wandering on the campus, ready to assault on disobedient students,
crying, “I’ll kill you”. The university administration has resorted to
every possible repressive means to liquidate independent student movement.
In spite of this all-out attack of the university administration by means
of arrests and disciplinary measures, students have been fighting unflinchingly
in strengthening unity in confrontation against outrageous policy of the
university. Their tenacious struggle has inspired and moved a large amount
of students of Hosei into angry actions against the university administration.
The recent crackdown (arrest of 38 students and indictment of 15 students)
illustrates a grave setback of the university administration as well as
police in face of mounting resistance of student masses of Hosei.
Students’ struggle opens up a future of society, a radical social
change
1120 person have responded to our call for signature to release
38 arrested students until June 25. A lot of messages have been sent to
us: “Thank you for giving me a hope for future” “Your struggle has encouraged
me tremendously”, etc.
On June 8, an indiscriminate mortal incident took place in Akihabara (downtown
Tokyo). It was a 25 year-old temporary worker that drove a truck into
the vehicle?free promenade flooded with young people. He might have been
inflicted, angry, isolated and desperate with the daily situation of temporary
workers, in which they are treated not as human being. What he really
wanted to do must be to fight against capitalists in unity with working
colleagues. “Akihabara incident” is an inevitable outcome of a hopeless
and gloomy situation of the Japanese society, a result of repressive measures
of ruling class, such as repression of independent student movement and
deterioration of labor union into corporate union.
Only 40% of university graduates of Hosei is said to be able to find a
job as regular worker. In face of the current situation, in which temporary
workers are not treated as human being and war, disparity and poverty
are rapidly developing, angry voices are bursting everywhere: “Workers
are not a mere object” “Enough is enough”.
There is a hope of changing the society in the struggle of students who
speak out their aspiration in a slogan, “Let’s change the society by the
unity of students with working class” On the labor front, young workers
are rising up for a fresh fight in defiance of the established, submissive
union leadership, building new militant labor unions of their own.
Worldwide workers’ revolt is spreading like a wildfire. One million Korean
workers waged a huge, powerful demonstration on June 10, shouting, “Down
with Lee Muyun Bak!” . On May 1, day of international labor solidarity,
workers of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and General
Union of Port Workers of Iraq (GUPWI) simultaneously stood up to shut
down ports in US West Coast and in Iraq with the common slogan, “Stop
war on Iraq”. In Britain 400.000 public sector workers went on strike;
in France education workers waged a general strike; in Germany strikes
of post workers, transport workers as well as workers of nursery, school,
municipality are developing; in Sweden 100.000 hospital and welfare workers
are on strike. Food riots are spreading in the Central and South America,
Asia, Africa and Middle East.
We are very proud of the students fighting at the forefront of the struggle
to change the society in unity with working class all over the world.
We demand immediate release of the arrested students. Stop disciplinary
measures on Hosei students!
Indicted students and released students as well are full of fighting spirit.
Confident of their cause, they keep fighting proudly.
We are quite angry at mass media for their total negligence of reporting
on such a grave case of crackdown on Hosei students. It reveals that mass
media is surrendering to the state power. Therefore, we ask you to tell
your friends the repression on Hosei university students. Let’s get back
indicted students as soon as possible by the joined power of angry workers,
students and citizens. Let’s stop planned disciplinary measures on fighting
Hosei students. Please collect signatures in your communities.
We ask your support in ten million Yen raising fund for the students!
We have already received support fund amounting to more than
2 million Yen. We thank you for contributors. A large sum of money is
needed to support probably long-period trials of 15 indicted students.
We deadly need another ten million Yen for the lives of the 15 students
in detention and also to organize defense counsel for their trials.
We sincerely ask you once again your cooperation in fund raising.
June 25 2008
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Please send your signatures to Houdai Kyuenkai (Support Committee for
Arrested and Disciplined Students of Hosei)
Address: Kyuen Renraku Center, Ishida Building, 2-8-16 Shinbashi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo
Email: [email protected]
Please raise fund for their defense and send it to
by snail mail:
Address: Kyuen Renraku Center, Ishida Building, 2-8-16 Shinbashi, Minato-ku,
Tokyo
or by bank transfer:
Branch Office of Kinshicho-Ekimae, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
Checking Account3520695 “Houdaikyuenkai”
or by postal transfer:
00160-0-585187
Please visit our web site for daily update:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/houdaikyuuenkai/
or the blog site of the Association of Hosei Students:
http://hosei29.blog.shinobi.jp
Petition
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