A Japanese court ordered a group of anti-Korean activists to pay a Korean school in Kyoto US $120,000 in compensation Monday for disturbing classes and scaring children by holding “hate speech” rallies outside the school. The landmark ruling acknowledged for the first time the explicit insults used in the rallies constituted racial discrimination, human rights experts said, and it could prompt a move to exempt hate speech from Japan’s constitutional right to free speech. In the Kyoto District Court ruling, judge Hitoshi Hashizume said hateful language the members of the anti-Korea group Zaitokukai shouted and printed on banners during the rallies were illegal.—AP
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