MITO -- A police officer accused of defaming a university professor who provided political commentary on TV, likening her to a "monster" on social media, has been slapped with a 300,000 yen (approx. $1,950) fine following a summary indictment by public prosecutors here.

The Mito Summary Court fined the 45-year-old male officer after the Mito Local Public Prosecutors Office summarily indicted him on Oct. 29 on charges of insulting Atsuko Higashino, a professor of international politics at the University of Tsukuba.

According to the indictment, the police officer used his smartphone to post a comment on social media saying, "From her appearance, isn't she a monster?" alongside an image of the professor, from his home in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, at around 9:40 p.m. on May 29, 2023, thereby insulting her.

The professor started using Twitter (now X) in May 2020, and since the onset of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she had increasingly become a target of defamation over commentary she gave on TV shows.

According to investigative sources and Higashino, the police officer was a chief inspector at the Ibaraki Prefectural Police headquarters' community safety department when he made the post in question. Higashino spotted the post in May 2023 and filed a criminal complaint against him this past April. Papers accusing the officer of insults were sent to prosecutors on June 18.

Higashino told the Mainichi Shimbun, "The summary indictment doesn't mean the case is over. I'm worried as I may come across the former chief inspector who defamed me."

She continued, "Looking at social media, there is a comment about me filing a criminal complaint, saying, 'Couldn't she put up with something like that?' Some people are causing secondary harm to me. I think this shows how deep-seated the defamation issue is."

The prefectural police's inspection office commented, "We will refrain from commenting on individual cases."

(Japanese original by Hitomi Saito and Natsuki Nishi, Mito Bureau)