Compensation order and apology advertisement in "Weekly Bunshun", regarding the ruling in favor of "Happy Science"

In July 2012, the year before last, regarding the lawsuit filed by our religious group against Bungeishunju Ltd., the publisher of "Weekly Bunshun", and former believer (Mr. Osamu Tanemura) for severely damaging our reputation with headlines and articles that were completely unfounded, today, Wednesday, March 19, the Tokyo High Court (appeal trial) delivered a ruling in favor of our religious group, ordering Bungeishunju Ltd. to pay 4 million yen in damages and publish an apology advertisement.

In the ruling, it was recognized that "the social evaluation of President Ryuho Okawa's entire personality is directly linked to the social evaluation of Happy Science", and for reasons such as "Bungeishunju Ltd. was unable to assert or prove the truth of the article", the court ordered Bungeishunju Ltd. to pay 4 million yen in damages to our religious group. Additionally, due to the severity of the defamation, the court ordered a full-page apology advertisement in "Weekly Bunshun" stating that "the actions described in the article were all contrary to the facts, and we sincerely apologize here".

As a result, it has been reaffirmed that the article based on Mr. Tanemura's statements in the July issue of "Weekly Bunshun" (July 19, 2012 issue) was completely fabricated and contrary to the facts, as claimed by our religious group.

As a group, we hope that "Weekly Bunshun", which was unable to assert or prove the truth of the article, will take this ruling seriously and reflect humbly.

Happy Science Group Public Relations Division