Man held in Iraq admits slaying Japanese man in 2004: police
March 1, 2006A man detained by Iraqi authorities has admitted to killing Japanese backpacker Shosei Koda, 24, in October 2004, saying Koda was killed because Japan did not comply with a demand by his abductors to withdraw its troops from Iraq, a senior Baghdad police official said Thursday. The detained man was also quoted by the official as saying that he did not know why Koda had come to Iraq and that the abductors thought he was a spy.
Asahara's lawyers seek open hearing with psychiatrist who examined him
March 1, 2006The defense counsel for Shoko Asahara, founder of the cult formerly known as AUM Shinrikyo, asked the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday for an open hearing with the psychiatrist who examined him and determined he was fit to stand trial. The lawyers also sought a reexamination of the mental state of their defendant, who they say is in a state of serious mental disorder and cannot stand trial, and recommended two psychiatrists to undertake the task.
Bar federation warns police, prosecutors over erroneous arrest
March 1, 2006The Japanese federation for lawyers warned police and prosecutors Wednesday over a case in which a mentally handicapped man in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture was erroneously arrested and indicted. The warning by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations was issued to the prosecutor general, and the chiefs of the Tochigi prefectural police, the Utsunomiya District Public Prosecutors Office and the National Police Agency.
Man who negotiated U.S. cellphone patents suspected of tax evasion
March 1, 2006The Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau suspects a man who has been involved in helping a U.S. company negotiate contracts for its cellphone technology patents with Japanese mobile phone makers hid more than 1 billion yen in income and evaded 400 million yen in the four years to 2004, sources familiar with the case said Wednesday. The tax bureau has filed a criminal complaint with public prosecutors against Ichiro Nakagawa, 66, who has acted as a de facto agent in Japan for the U.S. firm, InterDigital Communications Corp., they said.
Blast in chemical plant kills 2
March 1, 2006An explosion in a chemical plant belonging to an affiliate company of Japan's Kao Corp. has killed two Malaysians and injured two others, local Malaysian newspapers reported Wednesday. According to The Star daily, the victims were maintenance workers contracted by Fatty Chemical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. to clean the 30-cubic-meter methanol tank which exploded just before noon on Tuesday, sparking a fire.
'Polygamist' arrested over attempt to get woman to join group
March 1, 2006Police served a fresh arrest warrant Wednesday on a man who was living with 11 women in Tokyo for allegedly threatening a woman to get her to join the group, police said. Besides Hirohito Shibuya, 58, police arrested Chiaki Shibuya, 26, one of his former wives who was living with him, for conspiring with him to get the woman, then 25, to join the group, which included a baby.