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Justice for Nick Baker Group - Press Conference
PLEASE FIND BELOW A PRESS PACK, SHOULD YOU WISH TO ATTEND THE PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE CLUB IN TOKYO, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU REGISTER YIOUR INTEREST WITH THE FCCJ BEFORE THE DATE, JANUNARY 13TH 6.30PM,

The Outline of the Nick Baker Case
On April 13, 2002, Nicholas (Nick) John Baker, then 32 years old, was arrested at New Tokyo International Airport in Narita when roughly 40,000 ecstasy pills and about a kilogram of cocaine were found in the false bottom of a suitcase he presented to the customs officer. He protested that the suitcase belonged to his traveling companion, Mr. James Prunier, and that he had no knowledge of the drugs being hidden. Japanese police, despite placing Mr. Prunier under surveillance, allowed him to leave the country a few days later without even questioning him. Less than one month later on May 9, Mr. Prunier was arrested in Belgium for allegedly tricking three other young British travelers into similar offence.

When Nick was arrested, he was never clearly informed of that fact, was never informed of his rights such as the right to remain silent. He was held in custody for 23 days during which time was not allowed to contact any lawyer. He was made to sign statements written in Japanese, a language he does not understand. The police maintain that the statements, Nickfs confession, were read back to him in English via a translator and that Nick acknowledged the accuracy of the statements. However, as is customary with all Japanese police investigations, these interrogation sessions were never recorded on audio or video tape. Later, when Nick read the written translation of these statements provided by his lawyer, he realized for the first time that they were not at all an accurate account of what he had said during the interrogations.

During the trial at the Tokyo District Court, Nick's defense attorney requested that the facts of the Belgian case be admitted as evidence. However, presiding Judge Kenji Kadoya refused this motion at the request of the prosecution. On June 12, 2003, Judge Kadoya sentenced Nick to 14 years in prison and five million yen in fine, largely on the basis of the statements taken during the police interrogations. Nick and his defense team appealed immediately.

The first appeals hearing took place on March 23, 2004 at the Tokyo High Court. The seventh hearing just took place today. Among the key issues at the appeals trial are the appropriateness of the procedures taken by customs officers and the police officers at the initial stages of investigations and the quality of translation during the police interrogations and the District Court hearings.

On the Melbourne Case and Mr. Masaharu Katsuno
What is known as the "Melbourne Incident" in Japan took place on June 17, 1992 when seven Japanese tourists arrived at Melbourne International Airport from Kuala Lumpur. 13 kg of heroin was found in suitcases that four of them were carrying. They claimed that their original suitcases were stolen in Kuala Lumpur and that the tour guide gave them the new ones as replacements. They did not speak much English so they had to tell their story through another tour guide who acted as an interpreter but was clearly lacking the skill to do so. They were then asked to cooperate in further investigations but what happened during this time was later used against them in the trial. Out of the seven tourists, the two whose suitcases did not contain any drugs were sent back to Japan. The four whose suitcases contained drugs and the one deemed as the leader of the group were arrested.

Severe problems arose due to poor quality of interpretation, such as their right to legal counsel not being accurately informed and their answers not matching the questions, giving the investigators --and jurors later-- an impression that they were not being honest.

During the trial, the defendants requested for what they thought was their strongest evidence to prove innocence: to call the two other Japanese tourists and the tour guide in Kuala Lumpur as witness to substantiate their claim that their original suitcases were stolen. The judge ruled that it was not necessary. On the other hand, the prosecution had more than 100 witnesses to testify against them. The defendants were never given any chance to take the stand to tell their side of the story. At times, they were unable to follow the court proceedings due to sub-standard level of interpretation which was sometimes only a summary of what was said in court. In the end, jury found all five guilty and four of them were sentenced to 15 years, one was sentenced to 25 (later reduced to 20) years in prison.

In November 2002, after serving over 10 years in prison, four of them were released on parole and were immediately deported to Japan. One of them is Mr. Masahiro Katsuno, whose youngest brother is still serving his sentence in Australia. Prior to this, in September 1998, the four of them submitted an individual communication to United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva to urge the Committee to give recommendations to the Australian government to reopen their case. They were the first Japanese citizens to complain to the Committee. The Commission announced their decision in August 2004, advising the Australian government to review their case. The government, in turn, argued against this decision. Now the four and their defense team are working on the counterargument.

For further information, contact: [email protected]

On Fair Trials Abroad and Sabine Zanker
The Fair Trials Abroad Trust (FTA) seeks to help citizens of the European Union accused of a crime in a country other than their own to assert their rights to due administration of justice. The group actively campaigns for:

  • Basic standards of justice according to Art. 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights to be applied throughout the European Union
  • Basic conditions of justice to exist and to be applied around the world
  • The availability of legal aid and interpretation or translation services to all EU citizens in need facing trial.
  • FTA was launched by British lawyer Stephen Jakobi in 1994 following the widespread public outrage and concern generated by the case of Karen Smith, a British citizen arrested in Thailand and tried without proper legal representation or redress.

    Ms. Sabine Zanker, a European lawyer, has been monitoring the developments of the Nick Baker case. She visited Japan in May 2003 and again in January 2004.

    For further information, contact: [email protected] or Fair Trials Abroad, Bench House, Ham Street, Richmond TW10 7HR, United Kingdom.

    Iris Baker

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All information is © Copyright 1997 - 2006 'Foreign Prisoner Support Service' unless stated otherwise - Click here for the legal stuff