Unification Church May Be Obliged to Notify Property Sale

   Tokyo, Nov. 15 (Jiji Press)--A project team of Japan's ruling coalition has called for obliging the controversial religious group Unification Church to notify authorities of any disposal of its real estate properties in advance, as part of efforts to ensure possible future compensation to victims of the group's malpractices.
   The team of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, which has been discussing ways to save such victims, included the request in its urgent proposal compiled Tuesday.
   The proposal, for revising the religious corporation law and the comprehensive legal aid law, did not include a blanket protection of assets of the religious organization, formally called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, that some opposition parties had sought.
   The ruling bloc plans to officially approve the proposal as early as next week and kick off negotiations with the opposition. While the ruling parties hope to achieve the legal revisions during the ongoing session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, through Dec. 13, the negotiations with the opposition camp are expected to be tough.
   The project team hopes to amend the religious corporation law in order to prevent the Unification Church from moving its assets overseas.

(2023/11/15-17:41)

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