(Update) Japan Govt Loses Suit over "Abenomasks"

   Osaka, June 5 (Jiji Press)--A district court on Thursday partially nullified the Japanese government's decision not to disclose documents regarding the procurement of "Abenomasks," cloth masks distributed in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
   Atsushi Tokuchi, presiding judge at Osaka District Court, found that most of the government decision was illegal and ordered the state to pay 110,000 yen in damages to the plaintiff, Kobe Gakuin University professor Hiroshi Kamiwaki.
   Kamiwaki had filed a suit demanding the revocation of the government decision, saying that it was illegal not to disclose the documents containing detailed information about the state's procurement contracts.
   The government had argued that it did not create records about the events leading up to the contracts. But the presiding judge said that there must have been emails within the one-year preservation period and simple reports that it could have disclosed when it made the decision.
   The judge added that the government was unlikely to have deleted all email correspondences with companies.

(2025/06/05-19:13)