USUKI, Oita -- A local assemblyman who has filed a lawsuit against mask mandates failed to wear one during a regular meeting of the city assembly on November 30, and then refused an order to leave the chamber.
Junichi Wakabayashi, a member of the Usuki Municipal Assembly, has said that being forced to wear a mask and being prohibited from making statements without one is illegal.
During the first day of the December regular meeting on Nov. 30, Assembly Speaker Kaoru Hikida ordered Wakabayashi four times to put on a mask and twice leave the chamber, but he didn't comply.
The Assembly Rules and Administration Committee held a meeting during recess, and the decision was made to prioritize the operation of the assembly for the public interest, and proceedings continued with Wakabayashi still in his seat.
In response to Wakabayashi's lawsuit, the city has proposed a supplementary budget with 770,000 yen and $6,790 in additional general account funds to cover legal expenses. At the budget committee, committee chairman Eiji Tobiki asked Wakabayashi five times to put on a mask and twice to leave the chamber, but he refused.
Assembly Speaker Hikida stated that we have not allowed him to refrain from wearing a mask. As he has been ordered to leave the chamber, Mr. Wakabayashi will be deemed to be absent from his seat. If he is not wearing a mask, he will not be allowed to pose questions. Wakabayashi, however, said he didn't think that not wearing a mask constituted grounds for being expelled from the chamber. He said that he was sorry that the city had to use tax funds in the lawsuit, but there is no other way to make myself understood.