Psychiatrist, 100, fights to clear late convict's name
Doctor sees judicial negligence parallels in Teigin Incident, rejection of Asahara insanity plea
By KEIJI HIRANO
Kyodo News

A 100-year-old psychiatrist will lead the struggle to clear the name of Sadamichi Hirasawa, who spent decades on death row after being convicted of mass murder in a 1948 bank robbery known as the Teigin Incident.
"I believe Mr. Hirasawa is innocent, and it is deplorable that people have almost forgotten he was detained for more than 30 years with continual fear of execution," Haruo Akimoto said. "It is a terrible human rights violation by Japan's judicial system."

Hirasawa was arrested in August 1948 on suspicion of involvement in the fatal poisoning on Jan. 26 of that year of 12 people at a Teikoku Ginko bank branch in Tokyo. The poison was believed served to the victims by a man identifying himself as a public health official.

Hirasawa confessed to the slayings but later retracted his admission, claiming investigators forced him to make the statement. The Supreme Court upheld his death sentence based only on his initial confession.

Akimoto, a former professor at the University of Tokyo, will head a group campaigning for a retrial of Hirasawa's case on May 10, the 19th anniversary of his death from natural causes in a prison hospital at age 95.

After examining written expert opinions on Hirasawa's mental condition, in which psychiatrists said he had a tendency for delusions and was a habitual liar, Akimoto came to conclude he was innocent.

Akimoto said the psychiatrists had concluded these traits had multiplied at the time Hirasawa confessed due to his long detention.

"They should have concluded his mental condition was not usual and his confession was unreliable, because his tendency (to lie) intensified at that time," Akimoto said.

"I expect more and more people think that an innocent man was falsely charged and ended up dying in prison, because 33 different justice ministers refused to sign the execution order before his natural death," he said.

Such judicial negligence and lack of concern for human rights continues today, Akimoto said.

His concern about the judicial system has grown since the Tokyo High Court rejected an appeal by Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, who faces the gallows for masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and other crimes.

The high court concluded in March that Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is mentally competent, rejecting the conclusion of examinations by six prominent psychiatrists, including Akimoto, that the guru is not competent.

Akimoto interviewed Asahara in February at the Tokyo Detention House and concluded the cult leader, who did not respond during the exam, is a "living corpse."

"I do not mean to defend Asahara, but to advocate the truth that he is mentally incompetent," he said. "The other five doctors reached the same conclusion, but the court adopted a false exam result by a court-appointed psychiatrist and ignored ours. This may damage public trust in psychiatric exams.

"A court cannot fulfill its duty -- protection of human rights -- if it ignores the truth," he said.

Hirasawa was another victim of injustice, Akimoto said.

"While I have had many experiences during my 100 years, my encounters with the Teigin Incident and Asahara are among the unforgettable ones," he said.

Takehiko Hirasawa, 47, Hirasawa's adopted son, said, "Dr. Akimoto has worked earnestly to prove the innocence of my deceased father, and I expect him to lead our support group so the memory of the Teigin Incident will not fade away."

The son was adopted by the Hirasawa family when he was 22 in order to support the retrial campaign that was headed by his real father, Tetsuro Morikawa, a well-known writer.

The campaigners filed the 19th petition for a retrial with the Tokyo High Court on May 10, 1989, the second anniversary of Hirasawa's death, and submitted what they claim was new evidence to prove his innocence.

The items include a memorandum by an investigator that indicates the investigation team believed someone from a secret unit within the old Imperial Japanese Army must have been involved in the murder due to the rareness of the poison used.

The high court has been examining the documents submitted by the campaigners and lawyers since 2004.

"It is insufficient if we focus only on persuading the court to reopen the case. We need to raise public awareness about the Teigin Incident to realize a retrial a half a century after the initial trial ended," Akimoto said.

The Japan Times: Wednesday, May 10, 2006

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TEIGIN INCIDENT CONVICT LONG DEAD
Fight to clear mass-killer's name unending

By KEIJI HIRANO
Kyodo News

Takehiko Hirasawa has devoted himself to clearing the name of his adoptive father, who was convicted in the Teigin Incident, the most notorious mass-poisoning case in postwar Japan.


"I cannot leave the erroneous ruling on my father as it is," the 49-year-old Tokyo resident said, showing his readiness to continue the struggle even though the incident took place 60 years ago this month.

His adoptive father, Sadamichi Hirasawa, was sentenced to death in 1950 on charges of fatally poisoning 12 people at a Teikoku Ginko (Imperial Bank) branch in Tokyo on Jan. 26, 1948, and seizing cash and checks. He confessed during interrogation but later retracted his admission and pleaded innocent in court.

Petitions for a retrial were filed with the Tokyo High Court 18 times until he died of natural causes in prison in May 1987 at age 95, but all of them were rejected.

The 19th petition, filed after his death, is now pending at the high court, with Takehiko Hirasawa and a group of lawyers submitting what they claim is new evidence, including a memorandum by an investigator that indicates the investigation team believed someone from a secret unit within the old Imperial Japanese Army was involved in the murder due to the rareness of the poison.

The lawyers plan to submit additional evidence, including expert opinions questioning the credibility of the confession and the police lineup used to identify Hirasawa as the murderer.

"The deposition documents of Mr. Hirasawa show he resigned himself to his fate and tried to play the role of the criminal as investigators demanded when he confessed," said Sumio Hamada, a psychology professor at Nara Women's University. "It is a typical example of a false confession."

Hamada doubts the credibility of the identification of Hirasawa by witnesses in the lineup. "The survivors of the Teigin Incident faced Mr. Hirasawa half a year later, after their initial memories had been distorted by seeing the faces of many suspicious people," he said.

"We also want to conduct a chemical test to prove that the poison was not potassium cyanide as the final ruling determined," Takehiko Hirasawa said.

If the poison had been potassium cyanide, the victims would have been in agony immediately. Instead, the effects were delayed, suggesting they had been given a special poison developed by a secret military unit, such as the infamous Unit 731, the legal team argues.

"I believe there was a hidden intention within the postwar power structure to sweep the Teigin Incident under the rug," Takehiko said. "But I have been driven by a determination to redress the injustice since I met my (adoptive) father for the first time at a contact room in prison 35 years ago."

Takehiko Hirasawa was adopted by the Hirasawa family when he was 22 so he could take over the retrial campaign that was headed by his natural father, Tetsuro Morikawa, a well-known writer.

Currently, five lawyers are working with Takehiko Hirasawa without compensation on behalf of Sadamichi, meeting monthly. One of the lawyers said, laughing, "People often ask me 'Are you still involved in such an old case?' "

The lawyers know that it is a hard road that lies ahead of them.

"It is extremely difficult in Japan to open the door for a retrial, even if a defense team comes up with new evidence," said one of the lawyers, Koichi Kikuta, a professor emeritus at Meiji University. "But we need to break it down" to bring about justice.

Despite the legal difficulties, Takehiko Hirasawa's other challenge, to restore his father's reputation as a painter, has made headway.

Hirasawa had been a highly acclaimed tempera artist, but his reputation was damaged by his arrest. Many of his works were discarded or kept in storehouses.

Some 120 works have been found since his death, enabling Takehiko Hirasawa to hold exhibitions dedicated to his work several times in Tokyo and Hokkaido, where Hirasawa spent his youth.

This April, some of his tempera paintings will be displayed at Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art in Sapporo for a special exhibition, together with some 110 other works.

"Mr. Hirasawa developed a nationwide reputation as a tempera artist, and he is the crucial person in reviewing the history of Japanese paintings," said Naoko Tomana, curator at the museum.

"We have determined that his works are worth display in the special program," she said, suggesting his criminal status has not affected the museum's decision.

The newly found paintings include pornographic works that Hirasawa is believed to have drawn merely for profit, according to Takehiko Hirasawa. "The existence of the obscene paintings indicates he did not have to run the risk of robbing a bank for money."

Looking back on their meetings in prison, he cannot forget the day when his father shed tears after the 17th retrial petition was rejected shortly before his death.

"He was usually high-spirited, but he told me at that time, 'Could you do something for me?' He must have gone through unimaginable suffering when he faced the news of the rejection in his solitary cell."

Hirasawa often said that the Justice Ministry would release him if he could survive to be 100 years old, "but he had five years more to live when he died."

"He lived desperately in prison, showing me the preciousness of life."
The Japan Times: Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008

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Lawyer points to deficiency in legal system
on Teigin case anniversary
27th January 2009

Innocent people can easily be falsely charged under the Japanese legal system as the principle of presumed innocence is considered a mere slogan, a prominent anti-death penalty campaigner said Monday. ‘‘People sometimes admit to offenses they did not actually commit, as they cannot be released on bail once they are arrested and indicted as long as they deny the accusations,’’ Yoshihiro Yasuda, a Tokyo-based lawyer, told a symposium in the capital. ‘‘And they cannot be acquitted unless their lawyers completely prove their innocence.’’

The symposium was held on Monday on the 61st anniversary of the ‘‘Teigin Incident,’’ the most notorious case of mass poisoning in postwar Japan in which the adopted son of a late death row inmate is still working for a retrial. The poisoning case, in which 12 people were killed, occurred at a Teikoku Ginko (Imperial Bank) branch in Tokyo on Jan 26, 1948. An award-winning painter, Sadamichi Hirasawa, was sentenced to death, but died of natural causes in prison at the age of 95 in 1987 while still proclaiming his innocence.

His son, Takehiko, has filed a 19th petition for a retrial, which is pending at the Tokyo High Court.

Yasuda suggested that this structural deficiency in the Japanese legal system still remains even 61 years after the Teigin Incident.

He also said, ‘‘The death penalty is a ‘weapon’ for investigators. They could tell suspects, ‘You will be hanged if you do not admit the charges.‘’’

As for the Teigin case, more than 30 justice ministers refused to sign the execution order, and Yasuda told the audience of about 50, ‘‘They must have had concerns over the possible discovery of the real culprit, but they refused to release Mr Hirasawa in order to save the ‘honor’ of the legal system.’’

Meanwhile, another panelist, Hiroyoshi Endo, told the symposium the poison used in the Teigin Incident was not potassium cyanide as determined in the court ruling, because the poison had a delayed effect, allowing the victims to remain calm for a while.

‘‘It is not a crime that someone not well versed in chemistry could commit,’’ Endo, professor emeritus at Teikyo University and expert in pharmaceutical science, said.

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