Illegal Public Security Investigation: Why Did Police, Prosecutors Rush to False Accusations?

Editorial

14:46 JST, June 12, 2025

The investigation that led to the arrest and indictment of three men for their alleged involvement in illicit exports was found to be illegal. It is essential for the police and prosecutors to thoroughly review the investigation so as not to repeat similar mistakes.

In a civil suit in which the president and others of precision machinery manufacturer Ohkawara Kakohki Co. sought state compensation for having been unreasonably arrested and indicted, the Tokyo metropolitan and central governments have abandoned an appeal against a Tokyo High Court ruling that declared the arrest by the Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Security Bureau and the indictment by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office to have been “illegal.”

The ruling, which ordered the Tokyo metropolitan and central governments to pay a total of ¥166 million in compensation, has been finalized. The MPD and the prosecutors office expressed their apologies to those involved, saying that they had “imposed a tremendous burden.” They said they would review the investigation to prevent a recurrence. They must identify problems and determine the causes.

In 2020, the three, including the president, were arrested and indicted on suspicion of exporting machinery that could be used for military purposes to other countries, including China, without authorization. However, in 2021, the prosecutors office withdrew the indictment before the first hearing of the trial on the grounds that “there were questions about the illegality of the case.”

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, which is in charge of regulating exports, expressed a negative view of the case to the Public Security Bureau, but the bureau made the arrests without reconsideration. The high court ruling on May 28 criticized the decision, saying “there was a problem with the conclusion that reasonable suspicion of a crime had been ascertained.”

The government has been focusing its efforts on preventing the leakage of important technology overseas from the perspective of economic security. Launching an investigation itself to try to uncover a highly important case is not to be blamed.

However, why could the police not turn back given that there were voices that questioned the investigation along the way? The prosecutors office, which monitors investigations, also cannot avoid responsibility.

If such unreasonable investigations go unchecked, it could lead to public distrust in the very concept of economic security. The police and the prosecutors office should take these false accusations seriously.

It must be said that the interrogation was also inappropriate. The Public Security Bureau investigators did not include the statements of the suspects, who denied the charges, in the written interrogation reports, but instead induced them into making statements in a way that made it seem like they were admitting to the crime, according to the high court ruling.

The high court also condemned this interrogation for “clearly deviating from approaches that are considered appropriate in terms of societal standards.”

Both inducing statements and making written statements that were convenient for investigators have repeatedly been a problem. The police and the prosecutors office should be aware that if they are perceived as organizations that distort evidence and statements to conform to their script, even fair investigations may be jeopardized.

The president and others were detained for nearly a year, and one died from illness while he was still a defendant. The defense team repeatedly asked for their release on bail, but the prosecutors office opposed it on the grounds that evidence might be destroyed, and the court refused to grant the request. There also is an urgent need to review the operation of the bail system.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, June 12, 2025)