Police illegally blocked lawyer’s interview of suspect: court
KYOTO, July 12 Kyodo
The Kyoto District Court ruled Thursday that police acted illegally when they blocked a lawyer’s interview with a suspect in a police holding cell in Osaka Prefecture.
Presiding Judge Satoshi Mizukami ordered the Osaka prefectural government to pay 100,000 yen in compensation to the lawyer, Yoshiya Wakamatsu. The judge said the police cannot interfere with a lawyer’s interviewing a suspect, once the interview has begun.
But the court failed to hold the state responsible in the case, which Wakamatsu also demanded in his suit.
According to the ruling, a policeman interfered while Wakamatsu was interviewing a male suspect arrested for assault. The incident took place in a detention cell at the Asahi Police Station of the Osaka prefectural police in July 1998.
The policeman grabbed Wakamatsu by the arm and forced him out of the room, saying a public prosecutor had not authorized the interview.
Wakamatsu, who belongs to the Kyoto Bar Association, claimed interviewing suspects is central to criminal defense and using violence to block such interviews violates the Constitution.
The Osaka prefectural government contended the police stopped the interview to make sure it was authorized by the prosecutor and, they allowed it to resume afterward.
Toshio Shigetoshi, a senior officer of the prefectural police’s administration department, said it is regrettable their claims were rejected in the ruling. Shigetoshi said the prefectural government will decide whether to appeal.