Polish man receives conviction via interpreter in jury trial

Thursday 08th October, 04:49 AM JST

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11 Comments

PleasureGelf at 09:53 AM JST - 8th October

He was lucky he was caught smuggling drugs out of Qatar and not into. In Japan he gets seven years only, a sentence that would make any man proud of the consequent rehabilitation.
timorborder at 10:59 AM JST - 8th October

Don't like this idea of dissecting trials in front of the media. Furthermore, going as far as asking a translator their opinion seems to be rather banal.

Yeah, this chap is one lucky guy. Seven years in a Japanese prison is a rather soft sentence compared to what our Middle Eastern friends would have given him.
telecasterplayer at 11:33 AM JST - 8th October

Seven years in a Japanese prison is a rather soft sentence....

Not really. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed grave criticism for the Japanese prison system. This fellow is going to be punished and then exiled.
bobbafett at 11:39 AM JST - 8th October

This fellow is going to be punished and then exiled.

oh well thank God for that. Its the least a convicted drug smuggler deserves.
timorborder at 11:47 AM JST - 8th October

Thanks for that Telecast. Being an AI member, I am well aware of the peccadilloes of Japan's prison system, whether it is sanctioned murder (like occurred down in Nagoya Prison a couple of years ago), or the denial of basic human rights. That being said, however, seven years in prison would seem to be a softer option than execution. Then again, it may be a case of "different strokes for different folks."
Triumvere at 02:00 PM JST - 8th October

Not really. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed grave criticism for the Japanese prison system. This fellow is going to be punished and then exiled.

I would be curious to know what country has a "good" prison system... It's an honest question; I'm not trying to excuse the conditions in Japanese prisons, of which I am ignorant.
Nessie at 02:49 PM JST - 8th October

After receiving the sentence, Kujawa had tears in his eyes when Judge Kazuo Mizushima delivered a joint message from the lay and professional judges, saying, ‘‘We hope this will be the first step in your rehabilitation so you can lead a life with pride in your home country.’’

This is hilarious. "And they all lived happily ever after."
gogogo at 04:55 PM JST - 8th October

All six lay jurors attended a press conference after the ruling and said they were puzzled as they were unable to interpret the defendant’s facial expressions while listening to his words via the translator

Facial expressions are different for different languages, for example a guts pose or gambariimasu facial expressions they can't be translated, the Jury should have been instructed to listen to the facts and not judge on facial expressions.
PleasureGelf at 07:23 PM JST - 8th October

I'd really like to see his face during the trial. I mean, Poland is not like another planet and the facial expressions can't be that different from you can normally expect. People smile when they're happy, frown when angry or sad, nod to say yes, and shake their head to say no. Oh, wait, I forgot, in Japan you smile when you're embarrassed, maybe that's what threw them off
JHansen at 12:26 AM JST - 9th October

As someone new to this post, I have a question. Why not tell us what type of drugs he had instead of just "stimulant" drugs. Powdered caffeine could be called a stimulant drug. Why not tell us methamphetamine or cocaine etc?
goldsounds at 02:28 AM JST - 9th October

oh well thank God for that. Its the least a convicted drug smuggler deserves.

Of course, it's actually the people paying taxes here that are being punished since we have to pay for his prison time. I really don't get the Statist, authoritarian bent of so many commenters here who love to throw people in prison for victimless crimes.