High court orders Tokyo gov't, state to compensate for illicit probe
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A Japanese high court on Wednesday ordered the Tokyo metropolitan government and the state to compensate a company president and others for an unlawful investigation into the alleged unauthorized export of goods capable of producing biological weapons.
The Tokyo High Court ruled the investigation on Masaaki Okawara, 76, president of machinery maker Ohkawara Kakohki Co., and two other men was illegal after a Tokyo police investigator testified at the lower court the case was "fabricated" and a former investigator told the high court that people with discretion built the case "out of greed."
The plaintiffs had appealed the Tokyo District Court ruling that awarded a total of about 160 million yen ($1.1 million) to Okawara, Junji Shimada, a former director of the company, and the family of former adviser Shizuo Aishima, who died in 2021 after falling ill during detainment, insisting court findings on the maliciousness of the investigation by police and prosecutors were insufficient.
The state and the metropolitan government had also appealed, arguing their investigation was legal and seeking a rejection of the plaintiffs' appeal.
Prosecutors withdrew the indictment in July 2021, but Aishima died due to stomach cancer at age 72 in February of that year before redeeming his honor.
The plaintiffs sought 560 million yen in damages in the lawsuit filed in September 2021, claiming the items in question -- spray dryers that can atomize liquids and turn them into powder through a quick drying process -- were not subject to export restrictions.
The Yokohama-based firm is Japan's leading maker of spray dryers, widely used to produce food products such as instant coffee, baby formula, medicine and ceramics.
The three men were arrested in March 2020 on suspicion of exporting spray dryers capable of producing biological agents without authorization. Okawara and Shimada spent 332 days in custody until they were released on bail in February 2021.
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