"THE ELECTION BOARD OF ASHIKAGA, TOCHIGI PREFECTURE, RESTORED THE VOTING RIGHTS WEDNESDAY OF A MAN ACQUITTED OF MURDER, 10 YEARS AFTER HIS LIFE SENTENCE HAD STOOD AT THE SUPREME COURT IN JULY 2000, PANEL OFFICIALS SAID. "I AM VERY HAPPY BECAUSE I USED TO GO TO ELECTIONS ALL THE TIME," SAID TOSHIKAZU SUGAYA, 63, WHO BECAME ELIGIBLE TO CAST HIS VOTE IN A HOUSE OF COUNCILLORS ELECTION IN SUMMER. "I WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY THROUGH VOTING," SUGAYA SAID."
MAINICHI DAILY NEWS;
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BACKGROUND: Toshikazu Sugaya, 63, is a Japanese man who spent 17 years in jail for the murder of a four-year-old girl who was acquitted in March, 2010, at a retrial. He was released last year after fresh tests showed that evidence found at the murder scene did not match his DNA. Mr. Sugaya had admitted to the crime but later retracted his statement, saying it was made under duress. Judge Masanobu Sato said that Mr Sugaya had made a false confession after being subject to harsh police interrogation. The judge said that Mr Sugaya had not been told that he could consult with a lawyer or that he had the right to remain silent; "'I feel sorry as a judge that we did not listen to Mr Sugaya's truthful voice, and as a result, took away his freedom for 17 and a half years,'' he said.
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"TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The election board of Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, restored the voting rights Wednesday of a man acquitted of murder, 10 years after his life sentence had stood at the Supreme Court in July 2000," the Mainichi Daily News story, published on April 14, 2010, begins, under the heading, "Voting rights restored for acquitted murder suspect in Ashikaga case."
""I am very happy because I used to go to elections all the time," said Toshikazu Sugaya, 63, who became eligible to cast his vote in a House of Councillors election in summer," the story continues.
""I would like to contribute to society through voting," Sugaya said.
According to the committee, the city has been processing the restoration of his voting rights since public prosecutors' office notified the city of his acquittal in a March 26 ruling.
The panel approved registering him as an eligible voter at Wednesday's meeting.
The election committee had turned down Sugaya's request for restoring his voting rights prior to a House of Representatives election last August, citing that the previous life-term sentence was still effective.
The Utsunomiya District Court acquitted Sugaya in a retrial last month after he was imprisoned for more than 17 years as he had been convicted of killing a 4-year-old girl in Ashikaga in 1990.
The court found he was forced to make a false confession to investigators and initial DNA testing also indicated him as the culprit. However, a fresh DNA test effectively proved his innocence."
The story can be found at:
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20100414p2g00m0dm028000c.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
