KAGOSHIMA -- A group of former defendants who were arrested and held on suspicion of violating election laws but were later found not guilty filed a lawsuit in the Kagoshima District Court on Friday, demanding 286 million yen in damages for the treatment they suffered.

The 17 plaintiffs, including five bereaved family members of a former defendant who died during a trial, are demanding compensation from the central government and Kagoshima Prefectural Government. The lawsuit says the former defendants were illegally subjected to physical and psychological damage, and detained for long periods.

According to the suit, Kagoshima Prefectural Police and public prosecutors laid "completely groundless allegations" against the group, and arrested and charged them. One member was indicted without arrest.

One of the members, 62-year-old prefectural assembly member Shinichi Nakayama, was detained for 395 days. He was reportedly taken to a secret interview room not monitored by video or recordings, and yelled at by investigators in a heavy-handed manner. The complaint says police used illegal investigation methods to force a confession, falsely telling him, "The others have admitted to it."

The question of whether police and public prosecutors acted illegally or not is expected to be a focus of the trial. The development of the trial is likely to influence debate on whether or not to have all questioning of defendants taped and/or recorded on film.

A representative of the prefectural police inspection division said police wanted to look at the suit when it arrived and take an appropriate response.

The group of former defendants were arrested and charged with violating the Public Offices Election Law in connection with the April 2003 Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly election, but after claims of heavy-handed investigation techniques emerged, confessions obtained from them were thrown into doubt, and all of the defendants were declared not guilty in a court ruling.

One of the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit and was awarded 600,000 yen in damages after being made to trample on pieces of paper bearing his family members' names during the police investigation into the case. The officer responsible was charged in September this year.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment

---

Share this article