Swiss woman acquitted again after 8 months in detention

A Swiss woman on Wednesday was again found not guilty of drug smuggling, but she had to remain in detention for nearly eight months after being acquitted the first time.

The decision by the Tokyo High Court raises further questions about the practice of incarcerating foreign defendants during the appeals process after they are found innocent.

This occurs because deportation would make it difficult to continue the appeals process.

Lawyers for the 28-year-old woman said she is a "victim of defects in Japanese laws" and called for legislation to address the issue.

In the ruling, Presiding Judge Takao Nakayama brushed aside prosecutors' arguments that she tried to smuggle about 2.3 kilograms of methamphetamines hidden in a suitcase in 2006, saying there was "room for reasonable doubt" about her guilt.

The woman said she was asked to carry the suitcase by an acquaintance and did not know what was inside.

She was arrested in October 2006 and indicted for trying to smuggle methamphetamines from Malaysia.

In August 2007, the Chiba District Court ruled the woman was not guilty. But prosecutors appealed and were granted permission from the court to detain the woman.

Her detention, including the period spent in an immigration facility, lasted nearly 11/2 years.

After reading the ruling Wednesday, Judge Nakayama told the woman that her detention could not be avoided.

"Even this court cannot help but feel sympathy," Nakayama said. "But you imprudently brought methamphetamines into Japan even though you said you were not aware.

"Please understand there was ample reason to assume a criminal act," he said.

Her lawyers said there is a double standard in the system.

"If the defendant were Japanese, she would not have been detained," one lawyer said. "Now that she has been found not guilty, the rationale behind her detention has become even more unclear."

Under the Criminal Procedure Law, a Japanese defendant found innocent would be immediately released from detention.

Prosecutors have argued that if foreign defendants are deported because their permits to stay in Japan have expired, it would be difficult to continue with an appeals trial.

The twice-acquitted woman could end up back in detention if prosecutors decide to appeal once again.

Kazuhiro Suzuki, deputy chief prosecutor of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office, issued a statement Wednesday, saying the ruling was "very disappointing."

The woman was taken into custody at an immigration facility after the ruling.

The woman's lawyers sought her release after her first acquittal, but the Supreme Court in December ruled in favor of the prosecutors.

The top court said there was sufficient reason to suspect a crime had occurred and saw no problem in detaining the woman for the appeals trial.

However, two of the five justices on the panel said the detention was a result of flaws in the Criminal Procedure Law and the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law. (IHT/Asahi: April 11,2008)