Briton deported after being acquitted of marijuana smuggling

Saturday 14th June, 08:03 AM JST

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kinniku at 12:14 PM JST - 14th June

Seeing as even after being found innocent he was kept at a facility for illegal immigrants, I would assume that the Japanese government categorized him as an "illegal alien" and kicked him out.

Yes, this is probably the case. If the man's visa had run out during his stay (I don't know the type of visa he came in on), he would be considered illegal. In addition, in general the deportee has to pay his or her own airfare home.
Taka313 at 12:18 PM JST - 14th June

Timorborder and Kinniku, You are both likely correct. But wow, talk about adding insult to injury. The J-gov detains the guy long enough for his visa to expire and then kick him out. So much for the old "Yokuso Japan" thing, eh? ;-)

Taka
maninjapan79 at 01:31 PM JST - 14th June

Taka, I believe he was deported for visa violations. Get this, his visa ran out while he was incarcerated and was therefore deemed to have overstayed his visa, giving them reason to deport him! I love this country sometimes!!!
MichaelJP at 04:04 PM JST - 14th June

He's lucky it happened in Japan.

It doesn't excuse Japan at all, but it could be far worse. The human-rights atrocities justified by drug laws are sickening.
fritzonline at 04:36 PM JST - 14th June

He was acquitted, which is not quite the same as being found "innocent." The fact remains that he came into the country with a large amount of illegal drugs, and was acquitted as there was "reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally brought the suitcase into Japan," so rather than pursue the case further with an international investigation, the authorities decided that deportation was the simplest option. I agree that it is somewhat ironic that he overstayed his visa as he was in detention, but he was not in detention unreasonably. If it was a clear case of a massive error and he was detained without any grounds, then sure, it would be a human rights issue, but he was involved in drug smuggling at some level, and was detained as he was involved in a criminal activity.

I'd say that this is the best possible outcome for him, anyway.
borscht at 05:26 PM JST - 14th June

fritz,

Innocent is acquitted. I think you mean acquitted does not mean he didn't do it. And the prosecutors are pursuing the case - they are appealing the acquittal. Immigration deported him; prosecutors want to try him again - double jeopardy?
bighandedtwat at 10:15 PM JST - 14th June

everyone seems to be missing the big picture. they took his stash
serindipity at 10:24 PM JST - 14th June

Seriously, he 'supposedly' brought a suitcase into Narita airport with 20lb of dope in it. That's just plain stupid! I think this case could be decided with a psychiatric evaluation. Anybody that is that stupid deserves to get locked up. His acquittal doesn't prove his innocense. It just means there was doubt over his guilt. The only thing proven is his complete stupidity!
bighandedtwat at 12:46 AM JST - 15th June

yeah he totally couldn't prove they weren't joss sticks. complete stupidity!
RediJedi at 12:48 AM JST - 15th June

I think it's pretty obvious that this guy did bring the weed in to Japan.
mikihouse at 10:08 AM JST - 15th June

If he was caught in other countries he could have imprisoned for a long time or maybe even given the death penalty. Being deported is the best treatment he can ever get. Financial compensation after violating drug trafficking law? How pathetic. Bringing illegal drugs is punishable. The only thing that I think helped him was the incident involving a group of Japanese tourist who went to Australia and was duped by their tourist guide to have them carry a similar bag containing illegal drugs (the tour guide packed their things). The japanese tourists, I think all of them were sent to prison for a long time even though it was not their fault and maybe the Japanese judge have this in mind when he decided to acquit the British guy. While just having an illegal substance is enough to make a guilty verdict, the judge just acquited the guy and have him deported via immigration laws. Pity him? nah, he is a very lucky guy.
kinniku at 06:51 PM JST - 15th June

Taka313,

But wow, talk about adding insult to injury. The J-gov detains the guy long enough for his visa to expire and then kick him out.

Yes, this is correct. It is actually standard policy and many people end up having their incarcerations extended because their visas expired during their orignial incarcerations. Then, when they get out, they are required to pay their own way back to their home countries. The government buys the tickets for them, but the person themselves pays the fees.
kinniku at 07:04 PM JST - 15th June

mikihouse,

Sad, but true. There are an awful lot of countries where just possessing alone can get you the death penalty and these countries don't care to hear or believe possibilities of mistakes or of the drugs being someone else's.
Hughgarse at 02:57 PM JST - 16th June

the fact that Japan classifies pot as an A class drug is laughable...
andrewfx51 at 05:37 PM JST - 19th June

everyone seems to be missing the big picture. they took his stash

Yes! ROFL

In most country, you bring drug, government smoke you!

Sorry for the pidgin comment - I was going for the reversal gag