Unjustified Public Security Investigation: Dysfunctional Chain of Command Led to False Charges

Editorial

15:57 JST, August 8, 2025

Insisting that an investigation conform with initial assumptions, leading to forcible arrests and false accusations, is a matter of grave responsibility. The police must squarely face the gravity of the situation and urgently implement organizational reforms.

In the case in which the president of precision machinery manufacturer Ohkawara Kakohki Co. and two other executives were unjustifiably arrested and indicted, the Metropolitan Police Department has announced disciplinary action against 19 officials, including then senior Public Security Bureau officials who were involved in the investigation.

Since the illegality of the arrest and indictment has been acknowledged in a civil lawsuit in which the president and others sought compensation from the government, the MPD likely judged that severe punishments were inevitable.

A report released by the MPD depicts a reckless investigation that was pushed forward by a desire to make arrests, and shows a lack of responsibility on the part of senior officials and others who did not stop it.

The president and other executives were arrested in 2020 on suspicion of illegally exporting machinery that could be used for military purposes to China and other countries. The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, which is in charge of export regulations, had raised doubts about the MPD’s interpretation of the ministry’s relevant ordinances, but the MPD neglected to conduct the necessary investigations.

Prior to his arrest, the president underwent voluntary questioning 40 times. Senior MPD officials and others were unaware of the status of the investigation and gave the frontline investigators free rein. The report pointed out that “due to dysfunction in the investigative chain of command, the organization lacked the basics for an investigation.”

The three people arrested were detained for nearly a year after their arrests, and one of them died of illness while he was still a defendant. Why was it necessary to arrest the president and others who had continued to voluntarily cooperate with the investigation? The MPD senior officials and others, who failed to scrutinize even this point, cannot escape responsibility.

From the perspective of economic security, it is becoming increasingly important to prevent the leakage of technology overseas. Launching an investigation when there is suspicion of a crime is not blameworthy itself, but the desire to uncover a major incident may have led to an overly aggressive investigation in this case.

As investigations into illegal export cases require specialized knowledge and experience, there are few opportunities for collaboration with other investigative sectors and the investigations tend to be insular. The MPD intends to establish a new section to check the interpretation of laws and regulations related to public security investigations and the collection of evidence. It is hoped that this section will be operated appropriately.

Issues with interrogations have also come to light. Exculpatory statements were not recorded in the interrogation records, and suspects were instead guided into making statements that appeared to admit their crimes.

Going forward, the police nationwide plan to make audio or video recordings of interrogations of suspects in illegal export cases.

Prosecutors also bear significant responsibility. The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office has reflected that it “failed to carefully consider unfavorable evidence.” The fact that prosecutors opposed release on bail without fully understanding one defendant’s serious illness also cannot be overlooked.

Such a situation, in which an innocent citizen is unjustifiably arrested and loses their life, must never occur again.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 8, 2025)