February 28th, 1999
USA TODAY
EDITORS
Arai Yoshiaki

Dear Sirs,
I, a teacher at a highschool in Tokyo, would like to ask you to watch the first trial of the framed lawyer in Japan scheduled on March 3rd at Tokyo District Court, because it is the beginning of the decisive battle between human rights and the police power in Japan. I also would like you to keep watching his trial.
The framed attorney-at-law is Yasuda Yoshihiro(51), the most celebrated and important anti-death penalty activist in Japan. He is also famous for taking on the difficult task of pleading as chief counsel for Asahara, the founder and guru of Aum Shinrikyo, which is said to have committed serious crimes including Tokyo subway sarin attack.
I confidently presume that the police power of Japan has a strong intention to "crush" Yasuda because he opposes the police and the public persecutors in defending the human rights of the accused. By arresting and detaining him for a long time, the power wants to show attorneys in Japan how they treat a lawyer when he disobeys the power's will.
Yasuda is said to be the cream of the bar association of Japan, as one of the sports journals modified his name with such an adjective phrase when it reported the apprehention of him.
If the power succeeds in "crush"ing Yasuda or plunging him into guiltiness, it will be a prejudication or a previous instance for both the power and attorneys-at-law in Japan. Then the power will have made an example of him. And then it can be truly predicted that many of the lawyers in Japan will be doubtful of the possibility of getting shot from behind by the gun of his dubious client and will never advise or defend his questionable client in complete earnest. (About the details of this logic are precisely written in the writing by Miyazaki Manabu, which I attached to this letter.)
Amnesty International News reported his arrest with a headline "Amnesty International calls for inquiry into arrest of prominent human rights activist." In the body it said,"It is highly unusual for a lawyer to be arrested and detained in this way," Amnesty International said. "Mr Yasuda was reportedly cooperating fully with the police investigation before his arrest and had promised to disclose everything he knew. His arrest and detention appear somewhat arbitrary."
We, Mr.Yasuda and I, have been friends since we entered Hitotsubashi University as freshmen in 1969. And I know his character very well. He is the last person to do something evil or illegal. I, together with many people who heartily want to save him, will do everything I can do for him.
Japanese mainsteam media is on the power's side. They help the negative campaign of the power to blemish his reputation and fame by reporting things according to the police's announcement. So, please watch everything now proceeding in Tokyo that would lead Japan to a police state if you should not help us.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation on this matter.

Best regards,


For your reference(1)
News Service: 252/98AI
INDEX:ASA 22/17/98
EMBARGOED FOR 0300 GMT 22 DECEMBER 1998
Japan: Amnesty International calls for inquiry into arrest of prominenthuman rights activist

Following the adoption of resolutions in the Japanese Diet calling for respect for human rights earlier this month, Amnesty International today wrote to the Japanese Prime Minister drawing the government's attention to the arrest and detention of one of Japan's most prominent human rights defenders.
Lawyer Yasuda Yoshihiro was arrested on 6 December reportedly on suspicion of obstructing the compulsory seizure of rental income used as collateral by one of his client companies, Sun's Corporation Tokyo Ltd. Since his arrest he has been held continuously in police detention at the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo.
"It is highly unusual for a lawyer to be arrested and detained in this way," Amnesty International said. "Mr Yasuda was reportedly cooperating fully with the police investigation before his arrest and had promised to disclose everything he knew. His arrest and detention appear somewhat arbitrary."
Yasuda Yoshihiro is a leading campaigner against the death penalty in Japan. He was also heading the team of lawyers defending the leader of the AUM religious sect, Asahara Shoko, currently facing capital charges in connection with the gas attack in Tokyo in March 1995.
"The arrest and detention of his main lawyer may have a serious impact on Asahara Shoko's defence. We have asked the government to detail the measures it is taking to protect Asahara Shoko's right to a fair trial,"Amnesty International said.
Following his arrest, the Japanese media have engaged in intense speculation over the character of Yasuda Yoshihiro, particularly in connection with his human rights work and his role as a defence lawyer for Asahara Shoko.
Japanese human rights activists have reacted by claiming that his arrest and detention have been prompted more by his status as a human rights defender than his suspected involvement in the present case.
"The arrest of a human rights defender is a serious matter in any country. We are calling on the Japanese government to conduct a thorough inquiry into the circumstances of Mr Yasuda's arrest and detention, " Amnesty International added. "We are also concerned that he may be at risk of ill-treatment at the hands of the police."
In Japan, the police are allowed to detain suspects for up to 23 days without charge. Amnesty International has documented a number of cases where police officers have reportedly ill-treated suspects in an attempt to obtain a confession.
In October, the UN Human Rights Committee registered concern about this "substitute prison" system and recommended that the interrogation of suspects in police custody be strictly monitored and recorded by electronic means.
Amnesty International has asked the Japanese authorities to detail the measures it is taking to guarantee the rights of suspects in police custody, including Mr Yasuda.
ENDS...


For your reference(2)
THE FRAMED LAWYER YASUDA WILL BE ARRESTED AGAIN ON MARCH 4th
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Written by Miyazaki Manabu
Put into English by Gan-Bare-Yassan
The first public trial of Yasuda's case comes on March 3rd at courtroom No.104 of Tokyo District Court. This is exactly the room where they held the court of Asahara, the founder and guru of Aum Shinrikyo. The attorney, who was in the room and pleaded for the accused guru only yesterday, returns there to stand in the dock.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters detained Yasuda in the cell where they had once locked up Asahara, which has clearly shows us the intention of the power.
Regarding courtroom No.104, it could also be said that they use the room because it is the largest one.
The prospect for the near future is that Yasuda will be captured again on March 4th, the next day of the trial, according to the information given to me by a member of "Electric Brain Fox-eyed Party" who has a relation to the Ministry of Justice of Japan. (Note: I superintend "Electric Brain Fox-eyed Party.")
The suspicion against the lawyer, for which the police will make the second arrest, is about "Nisshin Kaihatsu", one of the real estate brokers which are said to have led the housing loan companies (Jusen) to bankruptcy by not having paid their debts.
Recently I have given you some pieces of information about "Nisshin Kaihatsu" on my home page. But unfortunately they are written only in Japanese. The president of the company will probably be arrested in a few days.
Japanese mainstream media will, as they did before, headlines their articles "TOP OF NISSHIN KAIHATSU ARRESTED.LAWYER YASUDA IS RELATED THE CASE." And when many of the stupid readers read the articles, they may probably say to themselves," The lawyer is, after all, one who is not good," I confidently suppose.
But you must be clever enough to understand this; When this kind of "apprehention" is executed, there had been shady transactions between the arrested president and the police and the public prosecutors. I presume that, this time, the latter recommended the former to bear false witness against Yasuda,saying, " If you give witness that you've commited the crime unintentionally by following the direction of the lawyer, Yasuda,we assure you that the punishment about which the persecutor will state his opinion at court will be less harsh with you."
In other words, the police and the public prosecutors urged the president to tell a lie that Yasuda seduced him to commit a crime.What can we know from this situation? What all of these means?The police and the public prosecutors have a strong intention to"crush" Yasuda. They have done and will do everything to spoil and mar Yasuda with all their might. They deal with this case as the decisive battle between the lawyer and they.
So, why to "crush" Yasuda is so important for them? In order to suppress anti-death penalty movement? To make the progression of trials of Aum (Asahara) faster?
How many of you have noticed that these two are not the real reason?
The real reason for them to "crush" Yasuda is to show lawyers of Japan what happens to a lawyer who disobeys the power. They do want to show lawyers that a lowyer who opposes the state power or the police power shall have hard days. They make an example of Yasuda.
If you defies the power, lawyers, we are always able to arrest you and make a charge against you. Then, you'll be in a lot of trouble.
They intends to menace or threaten lawyers by showing them Yasuda's case. In order to threaten lawyers effectively, they thought, it is the best and shortest way to "crush" Yasuda, the strongest lawyer.
To "crush" a lawyer, it is the best and fastest way for the public persecutor to dicker with the accused, the client of the lawyer,saying these; You'd better sell or delude your attorney, for if you do so, you shall be sentenced a lighter punishment with a probation or a stay of execution. You know, if you say, " It's not I but the lawyer who is to blame," you shall have a lighter punishment.When a client is whispered to sell his lawyer like this by the persecutor,he who has a guilty conscience will easily collapse to accept the proposal.Few who can reject the proposal in such situation are only those who have guts and fighting spirits beyond the common run of man.
This is one of the oldest modus operandi or method, handed down from generation to generation, that is widely known to have adopted exactly 1999 years ago around Jerusarem, Palestine. Though very old, it is modus operandi or method which is very effective in fact. Yasuda's case is a precident-making one. If they succeed in "crush"ing Yasuda or plunging him into guiltiness, it will be a prejudication or a previous instance. And then, which lawyer will advise or defend his questionable client in complete earnest? Every attorny-at-law will be doutful of the possibility of getting shot from behind by the gun of his dubious client.
OK, you've understood everything? The real aim of the police and the persecutors is there. Their aim is to make the circumstances in which lawyers could never defend the accused in all seriousness.
They heartily want to establish a society where the police and the persecutors are omnipotent. In other words, in the society they do want, if a man has some kind of thought which is looked at disapprovingly by the power, he will sooner or later be arrested and accused of a trifle.
Moreover, in the society, an existance who come under watchful official eyes will be a kind of social position, and the police will be able to arrest him and the public persecutor will be able to impeach him because of such social position of his. They do want to establish such kind of society.


For your reference(3)
Second application for the bail of Yoshihiro Yasuda, the framed anti-death penalty activist, a Japan's one of the best lawyers, was rejected by the Tokyo District Court yesterday.
written by Miyazaki Manabu
put into English by Gan-Bare-Yassan
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Second application for the bail of Yoshihiro Yasuda, the framed anti-death penalty activist, a Japan's one of the best lawyers, was rejected by the Tokyo District Court yesterday. A document, in which the public procecutor states the reasons why the court should not give the lawyer bailment, was submitted to the court and the procecutor counted this Home Page among the reasons. Here I introduce the document because it is one to be laughed at.
As Japanese proverb says, they can attach nose wax and qibbles everywhere.The reason of the rejection of bail comes under the proverb. I couldn't help laughing when I read the document. Hirokazu Urata, the procecutor, says in the document that the Tokyo District Court should reject the application of bail of the lawyer. He says if the accused should be given bail, it leads not only the possibility on the accused side of the action on the persons concerned with the case. After the sentence, the procecutor lays his view to be laughed at before us.
The following sentences are not easy or good because the original text is so, but please give a look on them.
If the accused should be given bail, it leads not only the possibility on the accused side of the action on the persons concerned with the case.
On December 6th this year (1998), the police searched Minato Godo Horitsu Jimusho (Minato Incorporated Law Office), to which the accused lawyer Yasuda belongs, and executed seizure of the exhibits, when Akihiko Ohguchi, who also is an attorney and belongs to the law office and was in attendance of the execution, shot the state of things of the execution by 8mm video camera without permision disobeying the police's injunction, and very regrettably, the refrections that are considered to be taken by the above mentioned Ohguchi are now opened to the public on the internet with such coments as ;"Search of Yasuda's office. 21 young men from the Criminal Investigation Section2. " "Look at the face of this investigator. Looks like a kid." As a public prosecutor, I don't want to believe that Akihiko Ohguchi, who has a license of an lawyer and expected to be a lawyer of "A lawyer should always make every effort to keep high culture and to build higher character and should be deeply versed in laws and regulations and judical affairs."(Lawyer Act article 2), did unconcernedly such a misdemeanor and led the interference of the investigation positively, still less I never conclude that he did such a coercing deed in conspiracy with the accused.
Nevertheress, be the matter what it may, it is no wonder that Ohguchi concerns such a misdemeanor in some way, and Akiko Takada, who is a clerk at the office, sprinkled salt on the investigators, who had finished the serch and execution of seizure of the exhibits, and she roared "Never come again.You stupid! ," if the accused should retun to the persons concerned who interfere the investigation and do coercive deed to the investigator like the above without hesitation, the possibility could not be denied that the accused would let these persons know his intention and would put slander and calumny of those on the internet etc who are the persons concerned with the case and would be planned to be called to the court as witnesses and would apply phsycological pressure to the expected witness for not bearing witness which would be disadvantageous to him.

Summing up,
Insolently enough, the guy named Ohguchi at Yasuda's law office took without permision photos during the police's search of the office. And the photos were opened to the public on an internet home page. (Ellipsis) In the future, if the court should give him bail, there would be a possibility that:
the accused lawyer would put slander and calumny on the internet of those who might be called to the court as witnesses. And it would have a phsycological effect on those who might bear witness that is disadvantageous to him.
So, they should reject the application of bail.
I suppose I am surely one of "the persons concerned who interfere the investigation and do coercive deed to the investigator like the above without hesitation."
In short, if Yasuda , the framed lawyer comes out of the jail, there will be a fear of he and I bringing pressure on the expected witnesses using my internet home page, the procecutor says.
They provoked me to quarrel or fight, I must react the forced quarrel or fight.
If the Hirokazu Urata's reason of rejecting bail of the accused should be right or legal, every application of bail all over the world would be rejected forever as his reason of the rejection is the following:
If the accused comes out of the jail, there will be a possibility that
(1) the accused will put slander and calumny on the internet of those who might be called to the court as witnesses
and
(2) it would have a phsycological effect on those who can bear witness that is disadvantageous to the accused.
Probably, this is Japan's first document which says the court should reject the application of bail because there would be a fear that the accused would put something on the internet home page of others (not his own) and it would give something effective on the witness's attitude. Oh, this is the historic document in the history of the legal professions of Japan.
In this sence, the name Hirokazu Urata will remain in the history of Japanese jurist.
To let the world know the high level of Japan's Ministry of Justice and it's officials,I would like to translate all of this and let everybody in the world know this.

For your reference(4) THE MOST CELEBRATED ANTI-DEATH PENALTY LAWYER FRAMED
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On Dec 6 the Tokyo metropolitan police department arrested the most celebrated anti-death penalty lawyer in Japan, Yasuda Yoshihiro(51).According to the police, he instigated a real estate company to hide properties in an attempt to obstruct the collecting of debts. The mainstream media immediately followed the announcement made by the police and started a series of campaigns against his good name.
Mr. Yasuda is also the leading defence attorney for Matsumoto Chizuo, aka Asahara Shoko, the founder of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult that allegedly committed a series of serious crimes, including the Tokyo subway nerve gas attack. While no lawyers were willing to assume Asahara's defence for obvious reasons, Mr. Yasuda took charge of the defence team. Professor Kikuta Koichi, a close friend of Yasuda and also a leading anti-death penalty campaigner in Japan, said that Mr. Yasuda took the case because he believed that the most infamous criminal should still be defended fully.
Asahara is very likely to be sentenced to death, so he should be protected.The prosecution often complains about his team's attitude in the court,charging that they are attempting to obstruct the prompt procedure of the trial. And the media has been quick to repeating this attitude.
On Dec 16 more than 450 people gathered to protest against Yasuda's undue arrest and the framing up. People including lawyers, lawmakers, scholars and citizens asserted that he had not committed any criminal actions. The police fabricated the crime from a trifling trouble between a creditor and a debtor. This is not a criminal case anyway, only a civil case. This frame up is a clear attempt to oppress the abolitionist movement in Japan.
The Japanese government executed three death row inmates on Nov 19 shortly after the UN urged Japan to proceed the abolition of the death penalty. The Japanese administration openly ignored the UN recommendation. No one can doubt that this latest incident is part of the same plot.