Foreign Rugby Player Charged With Drug Use

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]Mainichi: Japan's rugby world shocked by drug-related arrest warrant for Aussie player
Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) executives held an emergency meeting Friday after it emerged that police had obtained an arrest warrant for an Australian rugby player with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Sagamihara team on suspicion of illegal drug use. Police obtained the arrest warrant for 31-year-old player Simon Kasprowicz, who belongs to the Sagamihara Dynaboars. However, details of the case have yet to be made clear, and officials have put off announcing any punishments for him. Speaking on the possibility of future punishment, JRFU executive director Noboru Mashimo said, "We will wait for a detailed report and response from the team, and discuss the issue again."..."The continuation of drug incidents is extremely regrettable," a Kanto region rugby official said. "I want teams to also properly investigate the actions of their foreign players"...more...

[Charles]

This is absolutely shocking. I refuse to believe it. A great athlete from the continent of Australia, ravaged by scourge of drug abuse. It just beggars disbelief. Nothing like this has ever been heard of before. Just take one look at that face. How could anyone think this person would partake of forbidden psychoactive drugs? It must be a case of mistaken identity. No, it just could not be possible. It could not have happened. Nobody will believe the story is true. It must be a disinformation campaign, intended to discredit this innocent young man, to place an indelible blot on his heretofore unbesmirched escutcheon.

[Sentakki Fried Chicken]

[floatr][/floatr]Mainichi: Japan's rugby world shocked by drug-related arrest warrant for Aussie player

Simon Kasprowicz

...more...

His brother is a former member of the Australian Test cricket team.

[kurohinge1]

[floatr][/floatr]

. . . Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) executives held an emergency meeting Friday after it emerged that police had obtained an arrest warrant for an Australian rugby player with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Sagamihara team on suspicion of illegal drug use. . . . However, details of the case have yet to be made clear . . .

Perhaps after a particularly brutal scrum he had a bit of a headache and a team member gave him, what he thought, were the team's specially-labelled aspirin:

[IkemenTommy]

Sagamihara Dynaboars

What the hell is a dynaboar? Is it an animal or a name for some huge electric generator made by MHI?

[Charles]

What the hell is a dynaboar? Is it an animal or a name for some huge electric generator made by MHI?

Sounds like a tediously uninteresting Jurassic era animal.

[kurohinge1]

What the hell is a dynaboar? Is it an animal or a name for some huge electric generator made by MHI?

I think it's like an amateur art critic. Oh, wait –]megabore[/I].

[bolt_krank]

"I want teams to also properly investigate the actions of their foreign players"

Shouldn't the investigate the actions of ALL their players regardless ?

[GomiGirl]

I think it's like an amateur art critic. Oh, wait –]megabore[/I].

I tried to leave you a positive reputation note but I seem to have used all reputation on you lately.

[Mulboyne]

It looks like he will be formally arrested if he returns to Japan. If he doesn't return them he'll be breaking his contract with his team. If he did accept a guilty plea then he would likely be cut by his employer anyway so there might be a deal which didn't involve returning to Japan. If he wanted to challenge the test then he would have to return. Personally, I'd rather not have an arrest warrant outstanding anywhere in the world so I would prefer to clear it up one way or another.

The Australian: Simon Kasprowicz in Japanese drug probe

JAPANESE police are reported to be investigating former NSW representative rugby union player Simon Kasprowicz on a drug charge. Japanese newspapers claim Kasprowicz has been charged under the Narcotics Control Law, after being questioned by police last month in Roppongi, the well-known Tokyo nightclub district. It is believed he later submitted to a urine test. The former Waratahs flanker was allowed to leave Azabu police station but it is alleged that a drug was detected later. Kasprowicz, who has been playing professional rugby in Japan since 2005, is believed to be in Australia due to a family illness...Azabu police and Tokyo headquarters officials yesterday refused to comment on the allegations, or whether they would seek to have the rugby professional extradited to Japan...Kasprowicz, 31, played for NSW in 2004 and for Eastwood and Manly in the Sydney grade competition, before being signed by IBM Big Blue in the Japanese Top League. After the 2006-7 season he joined the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' team, Sagamihara Dyna Boars. A club official said today the Dyna Boars management was aware of a police matter involving their only Australian player, but had no further information. Kasprowicz is contracted to play with the Boars until next April.

[amdg]

Huh? They say he's been charged with a drug offense, and it looks like the only evidence is a urine test? Well, maybe not, but it does say that the drug was detected after he left police custody.

I'm not saying he didn't do it (whatever "it" is) but a urine test is incredibly flimsy evidence.

[Mulboyne]

I'm not saying he didn't do it (whatever "it" is) but a urine test is incredibly flimsy evidence.

I agree. You can't even ban an athlete on one failed drug test let alone throw someone in the slammer.

[Mulboyne]

The Canberra Times spells out what has been implied elsewhere: he left the country before the results could come in and any action be taken against him. They think - and they may know nothing and just be guessing - that it was marijuana.

[amdg]

The Canberra Times spells out what has been implied elsewhere: he left the country before the results could come in and any action be taken against him. They think - and they may know nothing and just be guessing - that it was marijuana.

OK, I think I get it now. They charged him because he won't be in the country to defend the charges. A nice easy win for the prosecution.

[Behan]

I wonder if Japan will make an extradition request?

Imagine getting extradited and serving time in a Japanese prison for some recreational use. It's not like they discovered a forest of hemp plants in his apartment or something, is it?

If they do try to extradite him, I hope Australia refuses to comply.

[amdg]

Australia has no extradition treaty with Japan (I think). In any case, there would be zero pressure from Japan to actually extradite this guy so thay can try him and incarcerate him in Japan at the taxpayer's expense. It's not the sort of crime where you typically see extradition laws come into effect.

[Charles]

Australia has no extradition treaty with Japan (I think).

Yes they do.

[amdg]

Yes they do.

Ahh thanks. I really need to stop reading wikipedia.

[Mulboyne]

Yes they do.

That's not an extradition treaty: instead, it lays out conditions under Australia's own extradition laws in which they would consider a request from Japan. You don't need a treaty to be in place to request extradition and a country can decide to extradite someone, provided their own domestic laws and constitution permit, without signing a treaty. Peru sought the extradition of Fujimori and Japan could have complied without a treaty in place if they had treated him as a Peruvian citizen. As soon as he was declared to be Japanese, the constitution forbade extradition.

A treaty sets up reciprocal obligations. One of the reasons Australia does not have an extradition treaty with Japan is that the country has been reluctant to enter into such obligations and is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This from an earlier thread:

* A request from a foreign country for Japan's extradition of a fugitive is processed in accordance with the Law of Extradition (Law No. 68 of 1953).
* When there is an extradition treaty between the requesting country and Japan, Japan will extradite the fugitive as a matter of legal obligation under the treaty, subject to applicable restrictions provided for by the treaty and its domestic laws.

As of July 2005, Japan has concluded bilateral extradition treaties with the United States of America and the Republic of Korea.

The treaty with Korea was only concluded in 2002. Article 2 of the Law No. 68 linked to above requires Japan to not extradite its nationals unless a treaty of extradition provides otherwise which is why the issue of Fujimori's nationality was pertinent. According to this 2001 report (PDF) , Australia had a total of 303 cases of extradition for all countries between 1981 and 2001. Japan did extradite to Australia (which could not have been a Japanese national) and Australia did extradite to Japan (no details on nationality) so some extraditions are considered by both even in the absence of a treaty.

I believe Japan is also considering a treaty with Brazil.

[amdg]

Thanks Mulb. I never studied anything about this area of the law.

[Charles]

Thanks Mulb. I never studied anything about this area of the law.

Perhaps I should have posted the main link page where I found the PDF I posted. But it's rather weird, a PDF with just 5 links (a web page would have been better). There is other info there, the way I read it, Australia will honor Japan's extradition requests except in certain special circumstances (don't know about the other direction). But I am not a lawyer.

[Mulboyne]

Perhaps I should have posted the main link page where I found the PDF I posted. But it's rather weird, a PDF with just 5 links (a web page would have been better). There is other info there, the way I read it, Australia will honor Japan's extradition requests except in certain special circumstances (don't know about the other direction). But I am not a lawyer.

My guess is that Australia would have no problem apprehending a wanted Japanese national, with no Australian citizenship, and extraditing him just as Japan might do the same in return. It is more doubtful that they would entertain an extradition request for an Australian national with no treaty in place to get access to wanted Japanese based in Japan. It might be considered if it related to a particularly heinous crime but it is possible that such a case could be prosecuted in Australia instead. For instance, murder suspects would almost certainly not be extradited because Japan has the death penalty but it may cause public disquiet not to have a trial at all.

[Behan]

My guess is that Australia would have no problem apprehending a wanted Japanese national, with no Australian citizenship, and extraditing him just as Japan might do the same in return. It is more doubtful that they would entertain an extradition request for an Australian national with no treaty in place to get access to wanted Japanese based in Japan. It might be considered if it related to a particularly heinous crime but it is possible that such a case could be prosecuted in Australia instead. For instance, murder suspects would almost certainly not be extradited because Japan has the death penalty but it may cause public disquiet not to have a trial at all.

I would guess that Australia wouldn't punish anyone too harshly for having some THC show up in a urine or blood test. Nor should they.