Crime & Courts

U.K. Court Refuses to Extradite Robbery Suspect to Japan

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
Investigators look into a jewelry shop where a robbery occurred in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, on Nov. 20, 2015.

Jiji Press

10:54 JST, August 13, 2023

LONDON (Jiji Press) — A British court on Friday ruled against the extradition to Japan of a British man on an international wanted list over a case of robbery that occurred at a jewelry shop in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward eight years ago.

As the reason for the decision, the court noted that the man’s human rights could be violated if he is handed over to Japan.

The ruling was for one of the three suspects in the robbery case. The court said it has not been able to prove that there would be no risk of the extradition of the man violating the European Convention on Human Rights.

In the November 2015 incident, three British men posing as customers beat and seriously injured a security guard at the shop, smashed a showcase and robbed the store of ¥100 million’s worth of precious metals.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department obtained arrest warrants for the three, who left Japan after the crime, for alleged robbery resulting in injury and trespassing on building, and placed them on an international wanted list through Interpol.

Japan had asked Britain for the extradition of the suspects. The two countries do not have an extradition treaty.