In search of a revival of popularity, the Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, has brought a law on donations to organizations, religious or not. The text does not convince the victims of the sects.
by Philippe Mesmer (Tokyo, Correspondence)
Adopted in record time, Saturday 10 December, by the Japanese Parliament, the law aimed at better supervising donations to organizations, religious or not, struggles to be unanimous. The text was written following the assassination in July, by the son of a follower ruined by the Church of Unification – today, Federation of Families for Peace and World Unification (FFPUM) , known as the Moon -former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe (1954-2022). He was ratified just five days after his submission to Parliament.
Framing the activities of structures which collect donations or which make “spiritual sales”, including non -profit organizations and schools, the law targets possible pressures. The text defines certain criteria to establish the offense, such as taking advantage of the weakness of targeted people and that of arouing fears by affirming that a gift is “essential” to avoid difficult situations. The sanctions can go up to a year in prison or a fine of 1 million yen [almost 7,000 euros].
The law also gives families of followers the right to cancel the gifts, according to the principle of the “right of subrogation of the creditor” provided for by the Civil Code. This provision can only be applied when the followers themselves do not have the financial means to act.
The government has prompted the rapid adoption of the text. The question of the Moon sect weakens the administration of the Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, because of the revelations on the ancient links between at least 146 parliamentarians and 334 local elected officials of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, in power) and the movement. Several ministers had to resign. Mr. Kishida’s support rate does not exceed 35 %, according to a survey of December 9 of the Kyodo agency.
The author of the shots against Mr. Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, had explained his gesture by the ruin of his mother, caused by massive gifts to the Moon sect, and by the link between Mr. Abe and the movement Religious created in 1954 in South Korea by Moon Sun-Myung (1920-2012), but very established in Japan, from where he drew most of his resources. For the sect, donations were presented as a means of “freeing the ancestors”. Teams passed through followers to sell them products such as ginseng, statues, even bibles dedicated by the guru, at exorbitant prices. The more important the number of ancestors to “release”, the more the donation had to be high.
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