Three men arrested for unauthorized demonstration near Aso's house

The Public Safety Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on Sunday arrested three men in their 30s for staging an unreported demonstration, which violates Tokyo’s public safety ordinance law, and interfering with policemen in the execution of their duty at the time of their arrest. The three called for the demonstration on the Internet and tried to march to Prime Minister Taro Aso’s house in Shibuya. About 40 people gathered for the demonstration.

According to police, the three men conducted the demonstration without reporting it to a local police station and assaulted police officers who were monitoring them on the street after they gathered in front of JR Shibuya Station at 4 p.m. The group of demonstrators raised flags and made speeches with loudspeakers during the march after police ordered them to stop the demonstration.

The organizers of the demonstration, a labor union, said advanced notification to police is not necessary and that the arrest was illegal. They said Aso’s house in Shibuya is worth 6.2 billion yen and they tried to “have a look at what it is like.” Some members of the group also gathered outside Shibuya Police station, shouting, “Police support only the rich!”

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