The struggle against the construction of Narita airport outside Tokyo, which has lasted for almost two decades, reached the Japanese courts in March this year. The Japanese judiciary, acting under obvious political pressures, handed down verdicts whose vindictiveness is unequalled in the annals of postwar Japan.
Fourteen Japanese militants were sentenced to more than four years in prison. Seven of them are member of the Japan Revolutionary Communist League (JRCL), the Japanese section of the Fourth International. It is not a pure accident that they received the heaviest sentences. Comrade Watada and comrade Maeda were given ten and eight years in prison respectively.
The trials began three years ago. More than one hundred militants were arraigned before the courts; forty of them were members of the Fourth International and they were sentenced for periods between one and four years.
The JRCL has been singled out for prosecution because it played a leading role in the protests against the new airport and was the backbone of the united front of farmers, workers and students which led the struggle.
The opening of the airport had been postponed on several occasions over the last fifteen years because of the protests. The Japanese government made it a point of prestige that it should be opened in March 1978, but the occupation of the control tower by demonstrators delayed the opening for another three months. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party was determined to punish this audacity. Repression on the streets was not considered sufficient, although as a result of police violence, our comrade Niiyama was badly wounded and died later in the hospital.
The comrades on trial \ere charged with Protests needed
Letters of protest should be sent to Judge Hanajiri, c/o Supreme Court, 1-14 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan, with a copy to the Airport Opposition League, c/o Shinjidaisha, 5-13-17 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
“endangering aircraft safety,” a clause designed to punish hijackers, at a time when the airport was not being used. The heavy sentences are a result of this particular law.
The struggle continues to this very day. The airport, though open, has only one runway and the jet fuel is transported by rail instead of an underground pipeline, whose construction cannot be completed because of the resistance of the people who live in the area.
The local of the Railway Drivers Union with 1,400 members is on the side of the farmers, but its initiatives have been blocked by the national leadership of the union. The local branch was finally expelled, an event which unleashed further struggles within the union on a national scale.
The heavy sentences represent an attempt to paralyze the Japanese section of the Fourth International. International solidarity is crucial. We appeal to all socialist and progressive forces in the world to raise their voices against the victimizations and carry out solidarity actions wherever possible.