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Prosecution: Haruna Ikezawa's Stalker Should Get 18 Months
posted on by Egan Loo
Tokyo District Court's Tachikawa Branch heard the closing arguments on Tuesday in the case against Hiroshi Sasaki, the 28-year-old man accused of stalking voice actress Haruna Ikezawa (Sgt. Frog, Futari wa Pretty Cure, Maria Watches Over Us). The prosecution alleges that the unemployed Morioka City man defamed Ikezawa on her homepage's bulletin board system and sent email messages requesting a personal meeting.
Sasaki is officially charged with defamation and violations of Japan's anti-stalking law, and the prosecution is seeking an 18-month prison sentence. The prosecution asserted that the charges are serious and that Sasaki understood that his posts, on a forum seen by an unknown number of people, were defamatory.
The defense has maintained Sasaki's innocence, arguing that the alleged victim's testimony was not credible and that Sasaki's actions were not stalking since there was a romantic relationship.
Sasaki's indictment, which was filed on July 30, 2009, alleges that he defamed Ikezawa with messages written on her bulletin board system in February of that year. From February to April, the suspect allegedly sent 16 mobile phone email messages that said, among other things, "Come by yourself to Morioka, since it's only two hours by shinkansen ('bullet train')." Ikezawa revealed on her official website in February of last year that she has an restraining order against an unnamed stalker.
Source: Yomiuri Shimbun
