Overview
- Hyogo Prefectural Police arrested Tachibana, 58, on Sunday on suspicion of libeling former assembly member Hideaki Takeuchi, and authorities have not said whether he admitted the allegations.
- Investigators cite a December stump speech and January online and campaign statements in which Tachibana asserted Takeuchi was being questioned by police and was set to be arrested.
- Prefectural police publicly denied those assertions at the time, after which Tachibana issued an apology.
- Takeuchi resigned following sustained online abuse and died in January, and his widow later filed a criminal complaint that the police received.
- A senior police official said the arrest followed concerns Tachibana could flee or destroy evidence, noting such arrests in alleged libel cases involving a deceased person are unusual.