Press Conference
Toru Goto, Head of the Japanese Victims' Association Against Religious Kidnapping and Forced Conversion,
H.E. Dr. Hasan Muratovic, Former Prime Minister of Bosnia,
Aaron Rhodes, Former Executive Director, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

The speech and Q & A will be in Japanese with English Interpretation

Religious Freedom or Family Dispute?

Toru Goto, a Unification Church believer, has filed charges against his own family members alleging that they had kidnapped him against his will for 12 years in order to break his faith in the Unification Church. His charges were rejected by the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office last year.

Goto, who heads an association of Japanese victims against religious kidnapping and forced conversion, is filing a petition to the Commission for the Inquest of Prosecution, part of the Japanese Judiciary, to reconsider his case. The commission's findings will soon be announced.

The Unification Church, has had a controversial history, and is generally known for its large-scale weddings held by its founder, Sun Myung Moon. Followers of the church contend that they are unfairly persecuted, while critics see the church as a religious cult.

Toru Goto, Head of the Japanese Victims' Association Against Religious Kidnapping and Forced Conversion

H.E. Dr. Hasan Muratovic, Former Prime Minister of Bosnia

Aaron Rhodes, Former Executive Director, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights