Former Seoul Bureau Chief Kato, Thank Goodness You Have Been Released!
産経新聞の前ソウル支局長、加藤達也氏の出国禁止措置がやっと解除され、本日、無事に帰国したみたいですね。加藤さん、長期間お疲れ様でした。
The former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Newspaper, Mr. Tatsuya Kato, was finally allowed to leave Korea, and arrived safely today in Japan. Mr. Kato, you must be relieved.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20150414/k10010047651000.html
以前、産経新聞からの電話取材に対して、「死刑になる心配はないから放っておきなさい」と答えたのですが、９カ月とは、私が予想した以上に長い出国禁止でした。
In a telephone interview I had with Sankei Newspaper soon after Mr. Kato's indictment, I said, "They are not going to execute him. Just let things ride for now." But a nine month prohibition on him leaving the country was longer than even I expected.
そもそもウェブサイト上のコラムに、韓国の新聞に載った記事を参考にした日本語記事をアップしただけなのに、大統領に対する名誉棄損罪で起訴されたのです。それに加えて出国禁止措置を受けるとは、韓国を近代法治国家だと信じていた人にとっては、ショックな話でした。
In the first place, he just posted an article in Japanese reporting on an article which ran in a Korean newspaper, and for that he was indicted for criminal defamation of the Korean president. When he was further prohibited from leaving Korea, it was a real shock to people who had come to believe that Korea was finally a modern country operating on the basis of law.
だって、もし私が韓国に住んでいたら、私の過去のいくつかのブログ記事を理由に「大統領に対する名誉棄損だ！」と起訴されるかも知れないという話ですよ。日本に住んでいても、今後、もし私が韓国に入国する機会があったとしたら、空港で拘束され、起訴される可能性がゼロではないという話ですよ。信じられますか？
Think about it. If I were living in Korea, I could be indicted for defamation of the president for some of the things I have written in my blog. Even though I live in Japan, it is not entirely unthinkable that I could be detained at the airport and indicted if I were to visit Korea.
今回の出国禁止解除は当然の結果なのですが、日本政府はもちろん、米国政府も「言論の自由の侵害が懸念される」と言い続けてきましたので、プレッシャーに負けたのかも知れませんね。
It is only natural and reasonable that his prohibition from leaving the country was lifted, but Korea may very well have bowed to pressure from Japan and the United States as they continued to express concern about infringement by Korea on freedom of expression.
いずれにしても、かの国は物事をもう少し深く考えてから行動しないと、墓穴を掘るだけだと思いました。
In any event, I think that if a certain country doesn't give more serious thought to what they are doing, they may be digging their own grave.
関連記事：とうとう起訴しちゃいましたか…(二カ国語)
