No appeal of major award to falsely accused firm will be filed
Ohkawara Kakohki President Masaaki Okawara, center, and other plaintiffs hold up signs declaring their victory in the Tokyo High Court ruling on May 28. (Shota Tomonaga)
Police and prosecutors announced on June 11 that they will not appeal the Tokyo High Court's order to pay 166 million yen ($1.14 million) in damages for the illegal investigation of a manufacturer and exporter of spray dryers.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office apologized to Ohkawara Kakohki Co. officials and pledged to review the investigation.
June 11 was the deadline for the appeal. With this decision, the high court's ruling that found the arrests and prosecutions of the plaintiffs to be illegal becomes finalized.
The MPD released a statement, saying, 'We take the ruling very seriously and deeply apologize for the great burden and trouble we have caused to the parties involved by the investigation.'
The MPD said that it has set up an investigation team headed by the deputy commissioner to review the problems with the investigation and compile measures to prevent a recurrence.
The prosecutors office also released a statement, saying, 'We sincerely accept that the prosecution was found illegal even by the appeal court.'
It said that the Supreme Prosecutors Office will examine the case in the future.
In 2020, the president of the Yokohama-based company and two others were arrested and indicted on suspicion of violating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law for exporting spray-drying machines that could be used for military purposes without a license.
However, the prosecutors office canceled the indictment in 2021, just before the first trial.
Prior to their arrests, the president and others had repeatedly explained that the machines 'were not subject to the requirements of export regulations and did not need a permit.'
The high court in its ruling on May 28 concluded that if the MPD, which was in charge of the investigation, had conducted additional tests on the machines based on the explanation of the president and others, it would not have been deemed an illegal export.
The high court also found that the original interpretation adopted by the MPD regarding export regulations was not appropriate and that there was 'no reasonable basis' for the arrests.
The court also found that it was illegal for the MPD to rewrite the interrogation statement to conform to the findings of the MPD and have a former company officer sign it without explaining the contents.
The high court also said that the prosecutors office failed to conduct the necessary tests, even though the company president's and others' statement had been reported to the prosecutors office.
There was no reasonable basis for the prosecution and its actions were illegal, the high court ruled.
In response to the ruling, the plaintiffs had submitted a written request and signatures to the MPD and the prosecutors office on June 9, urging them not to file an appeal.
More than 41,000 signatures were collected online as of noon on June 8, the plaintiffs said.
(This article was written by Saori Kuroda, and senior staff writer Shimpachi Yoshida.)
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