Asahi: High court upholds retrial for '67 Fukawa Incident
The Tokyo High Court on Monday upheld a retrial order for two men who have spent decades trying to clear their names for a 1967 murder-robbery they said they didn't commit. The court's ruling in the infamous Fukawa Incident will likely heighten scrutiny toward interrogation methods and submission of evidence by law-enforcement authorities. Presiding Judge Hiroshi Kadono said the confessions of Shoji Sakurai, now 61, and Takao Sugiyama, now 61, lacked credibility. He also said new evidence raised doubts about the guilt of the two men in the murder of a 62-year-old man at his home in the Fukawa district of Tone, Ibaraki Prefecture, 41 years ago. Legal experts and human rights activists have long called the incident a blatant case of wrongful arrest...If prosecutors decline to appeal the high court's decision to the Supreme Court, the retrial will be held... According to court records, Sakurai and Sugiyama initially confessed to killing the man and stealing 107,000 yen in cash during the investigation into the case. While in a detention center, they reversed their statements and denied any involvement in the crime. But after they were transferred back to police, they confessed anew. During their trial, the two pleaded not guilty, arguing that police had forced them to admit to the crime...Sakurai and Sugiyama were both released on parole in 1996...more...
