Head prosecutor Takako Tsukabe offered no apologies, and reportedly said that, if faced with a similar case, she would handle it exactly the same way. Megumi Wada, a criminal defense lawyer who is not involved in the case, said that “the more you fight, the harder it gets to secure bail.” “Unfortunately, in our practice of criminal defense, it is not unusual at all to encounter such cases on a routine basis,” she said. In Japan, the conviction rate — or the rate of prosecutors winning guilty verdicts in all indicted cases — exceeds 99%, an exceptionally high figure. Therefore, this case stands out as particularly rare since it was dropped after an indictment. Only one case each was dismissed in 2020 and 2021 due to a "lack of suspicion." Between 2006 and 2019, no case had ever been dropped for such reasons, government data shows."
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Human rights groups have condemned the practice, with Human Rights Watch releasing a 101-page report last May to highlight the issue. Innocence Project Japan, set up in 2016 and modeled after a movement in the United States to exonerate victims of false accusations, has actively advocated for detainees’ rights. Aishima’s son said that he did not wish to hold any of the officers criminally responsible. He said he wants the government to investigate the matter and come up with preventive measures so that incidents such as the one that affected his father would never happen again. “We don't have the intention to punish a single individual, so please be honest with us,” he pleaded."
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PHOTO CAPTION: "Masaaki Okawara and other plaintiffs celebrate in December after the Tokyo District Court ruled that police and prosecutors had falsely accused them of illegally exporting spray dryers. But the civil suit continues as both sides have appealed the ruling."
GIST: "In Japan, false accusations can have far-reaching consequences, with little chance for wrongly accused individuals to defend themselves.
Ohkawara Kakohki, a manufacturer of spray dryers based in Yokohama, attracted police attention in late 2018 due to suspicions that their products might be used in the development of biological weapons, and that they were involved in illegal exports without the required permit.
Despite conducting multiple experiments to demonstrate the safety of their products to the police, Masaaki Okawara and two other executives of the firm — Junji Shimada and Shizuo Aishima — were arrested in March 2020.
During their time in detention, they took the advice of their lawyer and decided to exercise their right to remain silent.
In Japan, however, opting for silence often comes with big consequences.
Aishima had his bail requests denied numerous times, on the grounds that he might conspire with employees. His health deteriorated severely during this time behind bars and he died from stomach cancer in February 2021.
Okawara and Shimada, meanwhile, were held in detention for a total of 332 days.
The case is undeniably tragic but not uncommon, reminding the public once again of human rights abuses that can accompany Japan’s criminal investigations.
The combination of long detention time and denial of bail, typically until a confession emerges, is infamously known as a "hostage justice system." It drew international criticism in 2019, when news of ousted Nissan Motor Chairman Carlos Ghosn escaping while on bail made headlines worldwide.
“I had not expected to be arrested,” Okawara said, as he had nothing left to say having visited the police station over 40 times for voluntary questioning and answered all their questions.
“The police tried to coerce a confession out of me by locking me up in a cell and keeping me away from my family, employees and society,” he said.
Before the arrest, the police conducted more than 260 “voluntary questioning” sessions involving almost 50 individuals associated with the company over 18 months. According to the company, some of its employees endured harsh interrogations, resulting in one of them being diagnosed with depression.
Okawara and Shimada’s bail requests were finally approved in February 2021. In August that year, prosecutors dropped the charges against the executives days before the start of the trial, due to a lack of evidence.
Head prosecutor Takako Tsukabe offered no apologies, and reportedly said that, if faced with a similar case, she would handle it exactly the same way.
Megumi Wada, a criminal defense lawyer who is not involved in the case, said that “the more you fight, the harder it gets to secure bail.”
“Unfortunately, in our practice of criminal defense, it is not unusual at all to encounter such cases on a routine basis,” she said.
In Japan, the conviction rate — or the rate of prosecutors winning guilty verdicts in all indicted cases — exceeds 99%, an exceptionally high figure. Therefore, this case stands out as particularly rare since it was dropped after an indictment.
Only one case each was dismissed in 2020 and 2021 due to a "lack of suspicion." Between 2006 and 2019, no case had ever been dropped for such reasons, government data shows.
Guilty until proven innocent
During his time in detention, Okawara said he was treated as if he were guilty already.
Whenever he was moved around within the detention center, he was always handcuffed and guards shouted at him to avoid eye contact with people and not look around. He also recalled that during interrogations, one of his hands was always handcuffed to the chair.
"I was treated as if I was a slave," Okawara said.
“With days like these that drained me physically and mentally, I sometimes wondered if it might have been a good idea to admit guilt in order to get out early,” he added.
Once arrested, suspects typically face hours of interrogations daily, without the presence of lawyers. The police can also extend an initial 10-day pre-indictment detention up to 23 days and can further prolong the detention by arresting individuals multiple times in the same case by filing new charges.
For instance, someone arrested for robbery might first be charged with trespassing and later rearrested for robbery at the end of their initial detention period.
The practice is often done as part of efforts to elicit a confession from suspects, legal experts say.
“Japan doesn't have a Miranda’s rights-like system, so even if you declare your right to remain silent, the interrogation continues,” said Kana Sasakura, a law professor at Konan University.
Originating from the U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona (1966), Miranda rights ensure that individuals in custody are made aware of their right to remain silent and to have an attorney. Once an individual invokes their Miranda rights, police must stop their questioning.
In addition to the overall problematic procedures of the Japanese system, Sasakura also pointed to the terrible environment in which suspects are held.
Shimada said that when he fell ill and had bloody stool, a doctor wasn't made available to him until 10 days later. Thankfully, his symptoms subsided after three days.
That was not the case for the late Aishima, however, and he had to endure his illness without receiving proper treatment.
"I feel most sorry for Aishima-san,” Shimada said. “Even though he was in custody when he fell sick, he was still a human being.”
Despite their hardships, all three never admitted fault, including Aishima. His wife, who was worried about his deteriorating health, pleaded with him to confess so that he could get treated promptly.
“From my father’s point of view, he had been pressured to say that his product was a murder weapon,” said Aishima’s son, who spoke on the condition that his first name not be published. The late Aishima was the designer and creator of Ohkawara Kakohki's spray dryers.
Aishima’s son doubted that his father would be happy had he admitted to wrongdoings, because if he had, there was a possibility that all three would have been convicted and the company would have gone under.
“In the end, I believe it is a good thing that he did not lie and stayed true to himself.”
In September 2021, the company and bereaved family members of Aishima filed a civil lawsuit against the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments to restore their reputation and seek damages.
In December, the Tokyo District Court awarded them around ¥160 million ($1.08 million) in damages, ruling that the firm was falsely accused and that a proper investigation was not carried out.
Prolonged legal process
But their fight is far from over. In January, the state contested the court ruling.
The Metropolitan Police Department has issued a statement saying that there were “grave misinterpretations of facts” in the ruling, and that the police intend to present necessary arguments in a higher court.
At the same time, the department said it has “sincerely” reflected on the fact that it had to dismiss a case it had brought charges on, adding that it is taking appropriate measures to promote appropriate investigative practices.
A Justice Ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing case, saying that it will present its arguments in the appeals process. It also reiterated its stance that Japan’s criminal investigations in general do not force confessions out of suspects and defendants.
Ohkawara Kakohki’s side also appealed the district court ruling, citing an absence of apologies from the relevant parties and measures to prevent a recurrence.
Police and prosecutors aside, judges too have a role to play, since they have the authority to approve bail, the plaintiffs say. Nevertheless, their lawyer, Tsuyoshi Takada, said that they decided against addressing the responsibility of judges in their lawsuit because targeting all institutions in one go would draw out the entire process.
“I’m sure the report that Aishima-san was sick and in a dangerous condition had reached the judge,” Shimada said. “I think judges who disregard human rights, who only make decisions according to what prosecutors say, is a huge problem.”
While the police were ultimately responsible for the ordeal of the Ohkawara Kakohki executives, in a surprising turn of events, it was the testimony of a police officer that shifted the trajectory of the civil lawsuit significantly. The officer testified that the case was fabricated due to the personal greed of another police investigator.
Shimada recalled his surprise in the fall of 2020, when his lawyer informed him that he had received an anonymous letter from an officer within the Metropolitan Police Department, who revealed the presence of another officer involved in the investigation who could testify for the firm.
“I’m confident that information beneficial to your company but also disadvantageous to the police, will come to light,” the letter said.
While court proceedings take years, the plaintiffs have expressed their wish to do what they can, partly in the hopes of preventing a recurrence of such incidents.
A ruling for a separate lawsuit filed by Aishima’s wife, which calls for the improvement of medical care in detention facilities, is scheduled to be handed down on March 21.
Lawyer Wada said that it is “hugely problematic” for the government to turn a blind eye to the hostage justice issue. She proposed that instead of relying on confessions, prosecutors could use a more scientific approach to obtain evidence.
Human rights groups have condemned the practice, with Human Rights Watch releasing a 101-page report last May to highlight the issue. Innocence Project Japan, set up in 2016 and modeled after a movement in the United States to exonerate victims of false accusations, has actively advocated for detainees’ rights.
Aishima’s son said that he did not wish to hold any of the officers criminally responsible. He said he wants the government to investigate the matter and come up with preventive measures so that incidents such as the one that affected his father would never happen again.
“We don't have the intention to punish a single individual, so please be honest with us,” he pleaded."
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/03/19/japan/crime-legal/hostage-justice-renewed-spotlight/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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MORE VALUABLE WORDS: "As a former public defender, Texas' refusal to delay Ivan Cantu's execution to evaluate new evidence is deeply worrying for the state of our legal system. There should be no room for doubt in a death penalty case. The facts surrounding Cantu's execution should haunt all of us."
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett; X March 1, 2024.
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