Peer calls for fair trial in Japan
BBC / Wednesday, 28 May, 2003, 08:35 GMT 09:35 UK]
A British man held in Japan on drugs charges has not been given a fair trial, Liberal Democrat peer and MEP Sarah Ludford says. Baroness Ludford has travelled to Japan with a lawyer from Fair Trials Abroad to highlight the case of Nicholas Baker who is due to be sentenced in a fortnight.
...During his time in Japan, Baker had been in solitary confinement for 10 months. Although Baker does not speak or read Japanese, he was asked to sign a document in Japanese - "which is nothing short of staggering for a system that claims to abide by the rule of law," Baroness Ludford said.