Japan Accused of 'Hostage Justice', With Suspects Pressed to Confess

Group Files Lawsuit Challenging Judges' Ability to Rubber-Stamp Detentions

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TOKYO - Yo Amano says he is unraveling in a cell where he has been confined alone almost 24 hours a day for over six years, despite not having been convicted of the fraud charges against him.

In Japan's harsh criminal justice system, critics say innocence is not presumed and coerced confessions help drive the 99 percent conviction rate.

"From the moment I was arrested, I've been treated like I'm a prisoner," Amano, 36, told AFP through a glass screen at the Tokyo Detention Centre, where he is held alongside people convicted of violent crimes, including death-row inmates.

"I'm sure something is wrong with me mentally, but I can't tell for sure because I can't even get a decent medical diagnosis here," he said.

Campaigners argue that lengthy pre-trial detention is meted out too easily in Japan, especially if suspects remain silent or refuse to confess.

That often makes confessions a de facto condition for their release, one that rights groups say exists in few other liberal democracies.

This alleged use of confinement as a way to elicit confessions - or "hostage justice" - is under renewed scrutiny after a group of victims recently filed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.

Lawyer Takashi Takano, who spearheads the suit, slammed the "completely inverted chronology".

In Japan, "if you contest your charges, your bail is denied and detention drags on. You get punished and robbed of everything first, sometimes before the trial even begins, followed finally by a verdict", he said.

AFP obtained rare, court-issued approval to speak to Amano, who denies the charges against him.