Three former Ground Self-Defense Force members have pleaded not guilty to charges of indecent assault of a female colleague in 2021.

The three men are accused of pushing Gonoi Rina down onto a bed and touching her through her clothing during a drinking party at a training facility in Hokkaido in August 2021. The GSDF last year dismissed the three, who were stationed at Camp Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, citing sexual harassment.

At the start of their trial at the Fukushima District Court on Thursday, the three defendants pleaded not guilty, saying they did not touch Gonoi through her clothing.

The prosecutors said in their opening statement that the incident occurred in a room where a drinking party was taking place.

They said the three were told by their boss to carry out martial art moves on the plaintiff, so the defendants took turns pushing Gonoi down onto a bed and committed indecent acts on her.

During the trial, Gonoi testified that she was concerned at that time that if she refused to be subjected to the martial art moves, the atmosphere in the room, her relationships with the people there, and her routine training job could be adversely affected.

Gonoi said she wants the three to deeply reflect on what they did to her, admit to the facts of the situation and pay for their crime.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 31.