"「たった一度のビラまきで逮捕」　関西生コン事件訴訟の原告側が冤罪と訴える「警察と検察の組合つぶし」," 15 July 2024

[Unofficial description by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

Oral arguments were held at the Tokyo District Court in a lawsuit of the arrest and indictment of members of Kansai District Ready-Mixed Concrete Union since 2018, seeking state compensation, claiming that the series of investigations violated their right to unionise and amounted to arbitrary detention.

Union members were arrested for distributing flyers at construction sites as part of "compliance activities" to point out violations of the law by contractors, and were indicted on charges of attempted extortion. One of the plaintiffs said that this case is a union-busting effort by the ready-mix concrete industry, police, and prosecutors. They have also met with the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

The defendants - the government, Kyoto Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, and Wakayama Prefecture - have all denied that the detention and interrogations were illegal.