Upper house panel OKs bill to videotape interrogations; justice minister, police object

Tuesday 03rd June, 04:19 PM JST

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Latest 15 of 21 Total Comments Show All

nutsagain at 05:52 PM JST - 3rd June

As someone recently posted; we all want the bad guys to go to prison. No doubt about that but I wonder just how many Japanese have thought: 'I ain't gotta chance...' better do what the Keystones say and confess and hope for a reduced sentence.' Lots of 'em I'd bet.
Nessie at 06:09 PM JST - 3rd June

interesting that the words "heart to heart" were chosen. from what i gather - making people go days without food, water, sleep, toilet, making them step on pieces of paper with their familiesnames on them hardly qualifies as "heart to heart."

Out, yes interesting. What they mean is "Stockholm syndrome heart-to-heart".
Nessie at 06:10 PM JST - 3rd June

Even in cases where the person is guilty, this might stir sympathy for the criminal, if a jury ever saw it. Hence the objection, in addition to the procedural malfeasance this will uncover.
timorborder at 06:23 PM JST - 3rd June

If this bill goes through, the cops will have to start working for their convictions rather than just verballing people.
Youdontknow at 06:56 PM JST - 3rd June

The police and justice minister object....yeah, well they would wouldn't they!
the_sicilian at 07:24 PM JST - 3rd June

A complete recording would make it difficult to establish the facts

So, a closed session with the J-cops brings out the truth? I have not laughed so hard since Caddyshack was in movie theatres.

And JT was asking about incompetence here? I guess if they were competent, this would not matter.

Addiu
Simon_Foston at 08:33 PM JST - 3rd June

‘‘Heart-to-heart exchanges between an investigator and a suspect have helped to delve into the truth behind a crime. A complete recording would make it difficult to establish the facts,’’ he said.

Kunio Hatoyama is a raving lunatic who regularly comes out with this kind of garbage. All his "heart-to-heart" exchanges help the police to do is clear their caseloads without having to bother building credible cases so that they can hit the snack bars and pachinko parlours early.
GrouchyGaijin at 09:16 PM JST - 3rd June

That weed that went missing last week was Fed-Ex'd straight to Hatoyama! Nothing else could explain this excuse for a human's attitudes on everything. Where do they find these morons, or what does he have on Fukuda to keep his job?
Patrick Smash at 11:33 PM JST - 3rd June

I think the same poeple, when enforcing fingerprinting of all foreigners, made the case that the honest have nothing to lose. How the tune suddenly changes when the murky world of Japanese injustice is under threat. What a piece of work Hatoyama truly is.
Patrick Smash at 11:36 PM JST - 3rd June

I think the same people, when enforcing fingerprinting of all foreigners, made the case that the honest have nothing to fear. Only the criminal elements could posssibly object they told us. How the tune suddenly changes when the murky world of Japanese injustice is under threat.
Yatta at 02:10 AM JST - 4th June

Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama, who supervises prosecutors, strongly criticized the bill, telling reporters at a regular news conference it would turn Japan into a ‘‘paradise for criminals.’’

I think putting the wrong people in jail creates more of a paradise for criminals.
Molenir at 05:04 AM JST - 4th June

Totally, agree with the sentiments already expressed. What are they afraid of, that they won't be able to beat a confession out of their prisoners if the law goes into effect? I don't see how that would be a bad thing.
frontandcentre at 03:21 PM JST - 4th June

What a ludicrous idiot Hatoyama - the Justice Minister with self-confessed terrorist links - really is.

Obviously it's OK to keep Japan as "hell for the wrongly accused" as long as this perfectly reasonable measure doesn't risk turning the country into a "paradise for criminals"...

Quite why ensuring that the police don't abuse their powers or force false confessions out of innocent people is somehow "helpful" to criminals, I don't suppose we will ever be told.

My final question echoes that of several others above - what does Hatoyama have to do, or say, to lose his job? Declare martial law?
Statistician at 01:00 PM JST - 7th June

Ha! I'm sure on deeper reflection the Japanese police will really welcome this enlightened law introducing procedures that already exist in many other countries. Never again will criminals here be able to claim in court that they were mistreated in some way in custody or unfairly dealt with or that their confession was somehow concocted. The British police love the system of taping interviews - which has been in place back home for ffteen years. An indisputable record of what took place during interrogation is there for all to see.

Now the Japanese police can enjoy the same protection as their British counterparts, what could they possibly have to fear? Oh! Unless they are beating up suspects and concocting confessions I suppose ...
Hughgarse at 11:17 AM JST - 9th June

‘‘Heart-to-heart exchanges between an investigator and a suspect have helped to delve into the truth behind a crime. A complete recording would make it difficult to establish the facts,’’ he said.

Oh, that is brilliant!