Sayama Incident

Japanese: 狭山事件 - さやまじけん

A movement for acquittal continues on the grounds that this was a false accusation based on discrimination against Burakumin. In May 1963, a high school girl went missing in Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture, and a threatening letter demanding a ransom was delivered to her home. The police let the criminal escape when he showed up to collect the ransom at the designated location, and the high school girl was later found dead. This, along with another case in which the police were unable to arrest the criminal who demanded the ransom, was widely reported in the media as a series of police blunders, and was also covered in the Diet. Under these circumstances, the Saitama Prefectural Police Headquarters conducted a prospective investigation of Burakumin communities in Sayama City, and arrested suspect Ishikawa Kazuo, a Burakumin, on a separate charge, indicted him on a separate charge, and re-arrested him immediately after he was released on bail, and detained him in a special detention center. Throughout this time, they continued to pursue him on suspicion of murdering the high school girl, eliciting a confession, and indicting him on charges of robbery-murder and abandoning a body. In March 1964, the Urawa District Court handed down a death sentence after a six-month trial. Defendant Ishikawa appealed, and in September of the same year, at the beginning of the appeal hearing at the Tokyo High Court, he completely denied the crime, claiming that his confession was the result of sweet talk and inducement by the police, and his defense team demonstrated numerous inconsistencies between his confession and the objective facts. This prompted rescue efforts, and the Buraku Liberation League launched a popular campaign to denounce the Buraku discrimination that permeated the process of arrest, prosecution, and trial. In October 1974, the Tokyo High Court overturned the original ruling, sentencing him to life imprisonment, and the defendant's appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court in August 1977. The defense team immediately requested a retrial at the Tokyo High Court, and filed a special appeal to the Supreme Court against the dismissal decision, submitting new evidence, but in May 1985, it was dismissed without fact-finding. In August 1986, the defense team filed a second request for retrial at the Tokyo High Court, but it was rejected in July 1999, and the defense team filed a special appeal. Meanwhile, in December 1994, Ishikawa was released on parole after 31 years and 7 months. In March 2005, the Supreme Court's First Petty Bench dismissed the second special appeal for retrial. In May 2006, the defense team requested a third retrial at the Tokyo High Court. In May 2010, a tripartite meeting was held between the Tokyo High Court, the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors' Office, and the defense team, and the prosecution, following the court's recommendation to disclose evidence, disclosed 36 new pieces of evidence to the defense team. Furthermore, at the third retrial hearing in January 2015, the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors' Office disclosed to the defense team a list of all physical evidence held by the prosecution, including an inventory of the items of evidence obtained during the investigation at the time of the crime.
→ Related article Hiroshi Noma | Buraku Liberation Movement

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

部落差別に基づく冤罪(えんざい)であるとして無罪を求める運動が続けられている事件。1963年５月，埼玉県狭山市で女子高校生が行方不明となり，自宅に身代金要求の脅迫状が届けられた。警察は指定の場所に身代金を受け取りに現れた犯人を取り逃がし，女子高校生はその後，死体で発見された。身代金を要求する犯人を前にして逮捕できなかった別の事件とあわせて，マスコミは警察の相次ぐ失態と大きく報じ，国会でも取り上げられた。この状況の下，埼玉県警察本部は狭山市内の被差別部落の見込み捜査を行い，同部落の石川一雄容疑者を別件で逮捕，別件で起訴，保釈直後再逮捕，特設した留置場に監置した。その間を通じて女子高校生殺しの容疑で追及を続け，自白を引き出し，強盗殺人・死体遺棄などで起訴。1964年３月，浦和地裁は半年の審理で死刑判決を下した。石川被告は控訴し，同年９月，東京高裁での控訴審の冒頭，自白は警察の甘言・誘導によるものとし，犯行を全面的に否認，弁護団は自白と客観的事実との数多くの不一致を論証した。これにより，救援活動が開始され，部落解放同盟は，逮捕・起訴・審理の過程を貫くのは部落差別だとして大衆的な糾弾闘争を展開した。1974年10月，東京高裁は原判決を破棄，無期懲役の有罪判決を下し，被告による上告は1977年８月最高裁により却下された。弁護団はただちに東京高裁に再審を請求，棄却決定に対し最高裁に特別抗告を行い，新証拠を提出したが，1985年５月事実調べなしで棄却された。1986年８月，弁護団は第２次再審請求を東京高裁に提出したが，1999年７月に棄却，弁護団は特別抗告を申し立てた。一方，1994年12月石川服役囚は31年７ヵ月ぶりに仮出獄した。2005年３月，最高裁第一小法廷は第２次再審請求の特別抗告を棄却。2006年５月，弁護団は東京高裁に第３次再審を請求した。2010年５月東京高裁，東京高等検察庁，弁護団と３者協議が行われ，検察側は裁判所の証拠開示勧告を受けて，36点の新たな証拠を弁護団に開示した。さらに，2015年１月第３次再審請求審で東京高等検察庁は事件当時の捜査によって得られた証拠品名の目録を含め，検察側が保管するすべての物的証拠のリストを弁護団に開示した。
→関連項目野間宏｜部落解放運動

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