Swiss woman expresses anger at Japanese legal system

Friday 10th October, 05:47 AM JST

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Nessie at 09:12 PM JST - 10th October

She is barred from entering Japan for five years because of the overstay.

That'll learn her for showing contempt for Japan's immigration rules!
Nessie at 09:17 PM JST - 10th October

Everyone here seems to think she was guilty or stupid. But that's beside the point. The court decided that she was not guilty. And yet she was detained for the appeal

Agree. The double jeapardy was the first insult. The irrational immigration decision was the second insult. But she did luck out on the inexplicable not-guilty verdicts. I wonder if she had a squeaky-clean background that saved her.
Nessie at 09:21 PM JST - 10th October

As she left the court, she was quoted as saying "Can I have my drugs back, please?"
sharky1 at 09:34 PM JST - 10th October

This ought to really help Japan bring in more tourists! (Sarcasm) Tourists beware of Japan...plenty of other places to go and see in the world where you will be respected and appreciated.
sageb1 at 11:37 PM JST - 10th October

Typical anti-foreign sentimentality!
Good_Jorb at 11:53 PM JST - 10th October

Tourists beware of Japan...plenty of other places to go and see in the world where you will be respected and appreciated.

Indeed, there are plenty of places that shot you on the spot for drug dealing and/or carry life sentences (like Schapelle Corby in Bali). Those tourist who knowingly take money to take someone else's bag on a plane beware of Japan, they will give you a slap on the wrist and send you home and ask that you don't return(the horrors).
ca1ic0cat at 02:53 AM JST - 11th October

there are a lot of good points being made about what would have happened to this woman in Malaysia, Indonesia, or Singapore. She should tear a page from the Nihonjin book and be apologizing to everybody for the trouble she's caused rather than crying that she is being abused.
Molenir at 06:02 AM JST - 11th October

What trouble she's caused? Being found not guilty twice, despite everything prosecutors could do? Or the fact that she was held in such a way as to overstay her visa... Sounds more like Prosecutors, and the nice immigration people should be apologizing to her.
Daniel_Basso at 03:59 PM JST - 11th October

Accepting a suitcase from a stranger at a malasyan airport on her way to Japan, without checking it, for money. She should go to jail... for being sooo stupid or naive! This is, of course, if that was true.
Rekishika at 04:58 PM JST - 12th October

I have read this story with mixed feelings. It is always sad to read stories about people being set up with drugs. Human beings on average are naturally inclined to help and trade favours of helping, as well as to trust other people to treat them fairly. Abusing those qualities is always a sad thing to see. I tend to disagree with those people who think it is right to punish people for no other crime than being too naively trusting to their fellow human being. We are all born that way. Some, through experience or advice, tend to develop a healthy reservation to the good intentions of people. I consider it a misfortune if people do not have that, but not a crime in it´s own right. In this respect I admire the decision of the Japanese courts involved to acquit the lady in question. Other countries hold different views, I would take that as these two courts holding generally better views. About the arrests and detainment, it is difficult to say something useful about that. However, there are some suggestions that Japanese people would not be detained in otherwise similar circumstances. If this is indeed the case, there is wrongdoing to be found. Nationality or race should never be the reason for any form of different treatment under the law. The role of the Immigration Department I would consider very much wrong. Regardless of guilt, when someone is being detained and the visa expires, the overstay is clearly a matter of Force Majeure, or involuntary overstay. It is wrong to punish someone for any act where Force Majeure is involved. For those people pointing out to the drugs as the indirect cause, that matter has been resolved by the detainment and the court verdicts. It is an ethic fallacy to justify such a matter by an act that should be resolved in a different way. The matter with the Immigration Department doesn´t stand as an isolated incident. For one thing, I can testify that they are not nearly as quick to uphold Japanese law if they themselves are the ones transgressing against it, for instance when it comes to redressing complaints against the service for violations of Japanese privacy legislation... It seems that, unfortunately, it must still be concluded that the Immigration Department isn´t always the most fair of the Japanese government services...
pizzaboy at 09:38 PM JST - 12th October

I feel bad for the dude who gave her money to take his drugs into Japan, he probably had to work extra hard looking for more naive/dumb-looking people to smuggle in drugs for him.
wargalley20011 at 08:42 AM JST - 13th October

She must have been on drugs. It's a good thing the Japanese officals caught her. Otherwise, there might have been a story of a missing Swiss woman.
ultradodgy at 02:39 PM JST - 14th October

My sympathy is totally exhausted for these stories.
ihavearrived at 11:05 PM JST - 14th October

This is brilliant. She took a suitcase from a stranger and carried it to Japan for them. Has she never heard of what might be in such a suitcase.She was lucky she got off. This laugh has made my day. Thank you Switzerland. I guess it is easier to just drive accross the border in Switzerland and not worry about airports.
mindovermatter at 04:02 PM JST - 15th October

In Japan... If you get picked up by the cops... You might just as well be in Tijuana, because that's about as many civil rights as you're going to have... No sympathy for her though... Drugs are a big "NO NO" in Japan and anyone that likes to go to Shibuya and get high, is taking their life in their hands... The best thing that can happen if you get caught is being deported...

Can you say... SOFA... Thank God....