大川原おおかわら化工かこう機き冤罪えんざい事件じけん 警視庁けいしちょう検証けんしょう結果けっかを公表こうひょう 歴代れきだい幹部かんぶ処分しょぶんへ

The president of Okawara Kakoki in Yokohama City and two others were arrested, but later proven innocent in a false accusation case. On the 7th, the Metropolitan Police Department released the results of an investigation, stating that the chain of command, including the head of the Public Security Bureau, failed to fulfill its proper function, which led to a major mistake.

Also, the police authorities plan to discipline, or consider discipline appropriate for, both current and former executives, including retirees.

Executives including Masaaki Okawara, the president of Yokohama-based chemical machinery manufacturer Okawara Kakoki, were arrested and indicted five years ago for illegally exporting machinery that could be used for military purposes. However, the charges were later dropped, and their innocence was proven.

The president and others filed a lawsuit claiming they suffered pain due to illegal investigations, and this May, the Tokyo High Court recognized the illegality of the investigations conducted by the Public Security Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, ordering the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the national government to pay a total of over 166 million yen in compensation. This ruling has been finalized.

In response to this, the Metropolitan Police Department established a review team headed by the Deputy Superintendent General to examine the issues in the series of investigations, and released a report summarizing the findings on the 7th.

The investigation into this case was mainly led by two officials from the Public Security Bureau’s Foreign Affairs Division 1 of the Metropolitan Police Department. However, the report points out that, while these two actively pushed the investigation forward, they failed to listen to the cautious opinions of investigators, resulting in missed opportunities to reconsider the investigative approach.

Furthermore, it was concluded that reports on the investigation status to senior officials such as the head of the Public Security Department had become a mere formality, and that there was effectively no investigative command. As a result, the investigation command system failed to function as it should have, leading to a major mistake.

In response to the verification results, Police Commissioner Yuji Sakoda held an unusual press conference on the 7th and said, We lacked the basics of investigation and are reflecting sincerely.

I would like to once again deeply apologize for causing great concern and burden to the three people who were arrested, as well as to everyone involved with the company under investigation, he said in apology.

Based on the results of the investigation, the police authorities plan to discipline, or consider discipline appropriate for, both current and former executives, including retirees, as early as the 7th.

In addition, the Metropolitan Police Department plans to implement measures to prevent recurrence, such as introducing investigation meetings overseen by the head of the Public Security Bureau for important cases, and establishing a new department within the Public Security General Affairs Division to supervise and guide investigations.

In the civil trials second instance, the Tokyo High Court acknowledged the illegality of the investigation, pointing out that the decision by the Public Security Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to arrest the three individuals lacked reasonable grounds.

Without further investigation, the interpretation of export regulations is also considered inappropriate. According to the ordinance of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, spray dryers that can sterilize or disinfect the inside of the machine are subject to export regulations.

The Public Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department interpreted this to mean that, by using a method that heats the inside, it is sufficient to kill even just one of the types of bacteria listed in the ordinance.

Based on this interpretation, experiments were conducted to determine whether the inside of the machine could reach temperatures sufficient for sterilization, and it was concluded that the machine fell under export regulations, leading to the arrest of three people.

Regarding this decision by the Public Security Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the Tokyo High Court pointed out that, despite being told by Okawara Kakoki executives and others that there could be other places where the temperature would not easily rise besides those investigated in experiments, they did not conduct additional investigations, and stated that there was a lack of reasonable grounds.

Furthermore, regarding the Public Security Departments interpretation of the requirements for export regulations, it was pointed out that it does not align with the intent of the ministerial ordinance to consider it sufficient if even one type of microorganism can be eliminated, and stated that it was not appropriate.

On top of that, if the usual additional investigation had been conducted, it would have been possible to obtain evidence that it was not subject to export restrictions.

In addition, the court recognized the illegality of the investigation, stating that there was a fundamental problem in the decision-making, as the arrest was made without reconsidering the matter despite being pointed out issues regarding interpretation by the relevant department of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The ruling, which stated that the interrogation could not escape being deemed illegal, also harshly criticized the questioning conducted by the Public Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Regarding the voluntary questioning of former director Junji Shimada prior to his arrest, the Tokyo High Court pointed out that the police officer in charge deliberately misled him about the interpretation of export regulation requirements, which are key to determining whether a crime was committed. The court stated, By blocking important explanations, failing to record them in the statement, and leading the questioning in a way that made it seem as though he admitted to the criminal facts, the conduct cannot escape being deemed illegal.

Furthermore, even during the interrogation after the arrest, it was found that when preparing the statement of explanation, they pretended to make corrections according to Mr. Shimadas suggestions, but in reality, showed him a different statement and had him sign it.

On top of that, it harshly pointed out that the statement was signed in a deceptive manner to fit the investigators assumptions, which hindered Mr. Shimadas free decision-making.

The Tokyo High Court, which also recognized the prosecutions indictment as illegal, acknowledged that it was illegal for the prosecution to bring charges.

The prosecution also reported that they had been informed of the companys claim that there are areas in Okawara Kakokis spray dryer where the temperature does not easily rise, and stated, This is a point that casts doubt on the results of the experiment conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Departments Public Security Bureau, and it was naturally necessary to verify it in order to prove guilt.

If the usual required investigation had been conducted, evidence could have been obtained to prove that it did not fall under export regulations, so the prosecutions decision that there were grounds to recognize guilt lacked reasonable basis.

Furthermore, regarding the interpretation of export control requirements by the Public Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department, the prosecution was informed by the company that there were doubts, as their interpretation differed from international agreements. While it cannot be said that the interpretation was entirely unreasonable, there remain doubts about continuing to adhere to it.

It was pointed out that it would have been appropriate to make a careful decision on whether to prosecute on this premise.