Rina Gonoi after an interview with AFP in Tokyo, February 22, 2023. PHILIP FONG / AFP
A Japanese court on Friday indicted three former soldiers for sexually assaulting a female colleague, who is suing the government for failing to prevent the acts, local media reported. Rina Gonoi, 23, publicly denounced in 2022 that she had been assaulted by several male colleagues, after an investigation into her allegations was dropped due to insufficient evidence.
Friday’s decision by prosecutors in the Fukushima area, where Ms Gonoi was previously assigned, marks a reversal from their initial conclusion not to press charges. A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office told AFP it was not possible to confirm the decision by telephone. “Today the three people were charged with sexual assault against me… I finally feel like (my efforts) paid off because I was in pain every dayMs. Gonoi wrote on Twitter. “I want them to recognize that what they did is a crime and atone for their sin“, she added.
Echo of his accusations
In February, Ms Gonoi told AFP that during an exercise in 2021, three colleagues tackled her to the ground, spread her struts and each took turns pressing their crotch against her, an incident that she had reported to her superiors. But an internal investigation concluded that the evidence was insufficient, and it was only after his revelations and the launch of a petition that the file was reopened and a criminal investigation was launched.
Following the broadcast of her accusations by video on YouTube in June, more than 100,000 people signed a petition calling for an independent investigation, which she submitted in August to the Japanese Ministry of Defense. The ministry has since acknowledged the assault and apologized. For Ms Gonoi, who had dreamed since childhood of joining the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSF), publicly speaking out about the inaction that surrounded her assault was an agonizing decision. “It was the last resort“, she explained to AFP, saying to herself more “desperate than brave“. The former soldier is also suing the government and the perpetrators of these acts because of the apologies “superficialand the mistreatment she received.