Japan may seek court order to dissolve the Unification church

Japanese authorities may plan to dissolve the Unification church in the aftermath of former prime minister Shinzo Abe's assassination last year in July, local media reported citing a government source.

The report added that a meeting of the government's religious organisation council was held and after that, a formal request could be filed with the Tokyo District Court as soon as October to dissolve the group if the evidence and testimonies are suitable.

The report also weighed in on the various doubts over dissolution as some government officials want to take any action only after considering the evidence. One issue is that it might not be able to demonstrate that illegal action took place at an organizational level.

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The Unification Church would lose its status as a religious corporation and be deprived of tax benefits if it is dissolved. It could still operate as an entity.

Japan launched a probe of the Unification Church after its links to ruling party lawmakers stirred a public uproar and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants to demonstrate that the government is making a clean break with the Unification Church with this step.

As quoted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, unnamed sources said that the government believes that dissolution would be appropriate given that the church had engaged in "vicious, organised and continued" activities that outweighed the constitutionally guaranteed liberties of religion.

A court can issue a dissolution order if an organisation has committed acts that are "clearly recognised as being substantially detrimental to public welfare" under the religious corporations law of the nation.

According to Mainichi Shimbun, the dissolved organisations no longer qualify as religious corporations and are not protected from corporate taxes, real estate taxes, and taxes on donations' income.

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What is the Unification Church?

The Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, was established in South Korea in 1954 by anti-communist Sun Myung Moon.

Out of the 10 million members of the church worldwide, Japan has the fourth-largest congregation and was one of the first countries it reached during its international development.

Although a representative claimed that only approximately 100,000 members are active and that many second-generation members have left, the church claims that Japan is its main source of income.

In Japan, many see the church as a cult, with its mass weddings and solicitation of donations, although the church says it no longer engages in what it acknowledged were excessive practices in the past, including aggressive door-to-door sales.

The suspect in former Abe's murder said the church persuaded his mother to part with around $700,000, according to his social media posts and news reports.

A lawyers' group in Japan said the church had collected nearly $1 billion from followers since 1987 and generated some 35,000 compensation claims.

(With inputs from agencies)

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