A Japanese high court on Monday denied a retrial for a 95-year-old woman who served 10 years in prison for the murder of her brother-in-law in 1979 in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. The Fukuoka High Court's Miyazaki branch rejected a call by Ayako Haraguchi to reopen the case, saying there…
A Japanese high court on June 5 denied a retrial for a 95-year-old woman who served 10 years in prison for the murder of her brother-in-law in 1979 in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The 101-page report, “Japan’s ‘Hostage Justice’ System,” documents the abusive treatment of criminal suspects in pretrial detention. The authorities strip suspects of their right to remain silent, question them without a lawyer, coerce them to confess through repeated arrests and denial of bail, and detain them for prolonged periods under constant surveillance in police stations. The Japanese government should urgently undertake wide-ranging reforms, including amending the criminal procedure code, to ensure detainees their fair trial rights and make investigators and prosecutors more accountable.