ID :
206884
Tue, 09/13/2011 - 16:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/206884
The shortlink copeid
Ex-Japan Red Army member's life sentence to stand
TOKYO, Sept. 13 Kyodo -
Japan's Supreme Court said Tuesday it has turned down an appeal from a former Japanese Red Army member who was sentenced to life imprisonment by lower courts for his involvement in the 1977 hijacking of a Japan Airlines plane and the 1974 seizure of the French Embassy in The Hague.
The defendant, Jun Nishikawa, 61, can still file an objection with the top court against the decision but it is limited to technicalities such as errors in wording. Tuesday's decision is expected to become final and binding as the court rarely accepts such objections.
Lower court rulings show that Nishikawa conspired with other Japanese Red Army members to seize the French Embassy in The Hague in September 1974, held hostages for up to about 100 hours, and fired at policemen, wounding two of them. Among the hostages was the French ambassador to the Netherlands at the time.
In September 1977, Nishikawa, also in a conspiracy with other members, hijacked the Japan Airlines plane over the Indian Ocean, forced it to land at Dhaka airport in Bangladesh, demanded $6 million in ransom for passengers and crew members and forced Japanese authorities to release six detainees, including members of the Japanese Red Army, the lower court rulings said.
Nishikawa was initially arrested and put on trial in 1975 for attempted murder over the seizure of the French Embassy, but the trial was interrupted after he was released from detention as part of a deal to win the release of hostages being held by Japanese Red Army members at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur that year.
Nishikawa was detained again in Bolivia, kicked out of the country in November 1997, and arrested at Narita airport upon his return to Japan.
In March 2007, the Tokyo District Court found him guilty of violating the anti-hijacking law and of attempted murder. It sentenced him to life imprisonment -- a decision upheld by the Tokyo High Court in October 2008.
The Japanese Red Army staged a series of hijackings and indiscriminate attacks in various parts of the world in the 1970s and 1980s.
Among them was the 1972 attack against Lod airport in Tel Aviv in Israel that killed 26 people and injured dozens of others. The airport was later renamed Ben Gurion airport.
Japan's Supreme Court said Tuesday it has turned down an appeal from a former Japanese Red Army member who was sentenced to life imprisonment by lower courts for his involvement in the 1977 hijacking of a Japan Airlines plane and the 1974 seizure of the French Embassy in The Hague.
The defendant, Jun Nishikawa, 61, can still file an objection with the top court against the decision but it is limited to technicalities such as errors in wording. Tuesday's decision is expected to become final and binding as the court rarely accepts such objections.
Lower court rulings show that Nishikawa conspired with other Japanese Red Army members to seize the French Embassy in The Hague in September 1974, held hostages for up to about 100 hours, and fired at policemen, wounding two of them. Among the hostages was the French ambassador to the Netherlands at the time.
In September 1977, Nishikawa, also in a conspiracy with other members, hijacked the Japan Airlines plane over the Indian Ocean, forced it to land at Dhaka airport in Bangladesh, demanded $6 million in ransom for passengers and crew members and forced Japanese authorities to release six detainees, including members of the Japanese Red Army, the lower court rulings said.
Nishikawa was initially arrested and put on trial in 1975 for attempted murder over the seizure of the French Embassy, but the trial was interrupted after he was released from detention as part of a deal to win the release of hostages being held by Japanese Red Army members at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur that year.
Nishikawa was detained again in Bolivia, kicked out of the country in November 1997, and arrested at Narita airport upon his return to Japan.
In March 2007, the Tokyo District Court found him guilty of violating the anti-hijacking law and of attempted murder. It sentenced him to life imprisonment -- a decision upheld by the Tokyo High Court in October 2008.
The Japanese Red Army staged a series of hijackings and indiscriminate attacks in various parts of the world in the 1970s and 1980s.
Among them was the 1972 attack against Lod airport in Tel Aviv in Israel that killed 26 people and injured dozens of others. The airport was later renamed Ben Gurion airport.
