TOKYO - A 33-year-old woman who had been issued with a restraining order was found guilty on Tuesday of stalking a former partner after "liking" multiple times a post he had placed on his X account.
The Tokyo District Court handed down a suspended sentence of six months with three years of probation to Serina Saito. The prosecution had sought a six-month prison sentence.
Judge Yoshihiro Hayashi said Saito, who had been fined 200,000 yen ($1,300) for stalking just a week prior to her actions on social media, had been obsessive and "incurred harsh criticism."
He handed down the suspended sentence after she expressed remorse and promised to delete her X app.
According to the ruling, Saito reposted once and "liked" a post by her former boyfriend 14 times on June 3, violating her restraining order.
She had been arrested after incessantly texting him on the Line app on Feb. 14 after the man broke up with her, before being issued with a restraining order on March 3. She was released after being fined on May 27.
