THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 21, 2024 at 16:37 JST
Ryuji Kimura is brought to the Wakayama District Public Prosecutors Office on April 17, 2023. (Yuki Shibata)
WAKAYAMA—Details have emerged from a prosecutor’s harsh interrogation of the suspect in the bombing attack against former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, including derogatory insults and possible violations of his right to remain silent.
The Wakayama District Public Prosecutors Office issued a warning to the prosecutor after the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office concluded that the interrogation of the suspect, Ryuji Kimura, was improper.
Kimura, 25, was indicted in September 2023 on five charges, including attempted murder, in connection with a homemade bomb thrown at Kishida while he was delivering a campaign speech in Wakayama.
Kishida was not harmed in the incident, which occurred in April that year.
In the recorded interrogation of Kimura, the 36-year-old prosecutor from the Wakayama District Public Prosecutors Office can be heard making statements like, “Society values law enforcement officers, but someone like you, a shut-in, is hardly appreciated at all.”
The prosecutor continued with the insults, saying the suspect was even worse because he “went out and caused harm to society.”
Kimura was further described as “pathetic and easily replaceable,” and the interrogator said no one cared about his arrest.
Additionally, Kimura, who shut his eyes during the questioning, was repeatedly ordered by the prosecutor to open them to express either a “yes” or “no” response to the questions.
This demand, according to Kimura’s defense lawyer, possibly violated the suspect’s right to remain silent.
The interrogation lasted for over seven hours on some days, even when Kimura exercised his right to remain silent.
In May last year, the lawyer filed a complaint about the possible violation of his client’s right to remain silent, as well as the prosecutor’s irrelevant and insulting remarks that damaged the suspect's dignity.
The trial of Kimura, who was arrested on April 15, 2023, is scheduled to start at the Wakayama District Court in February.
(This article was written by Issei Yamamoto and Shunsuke Abe.)
Court approves psychiatric test for Kishida attack suspect
May 22, 2023
Kishida attack suspect sent to prosecutors on multiple charges
August 31, 2023
2nd object seized at Kishida attack site had likely fuse, detonator
April 19, 2023
Police seize likely explosive powder from attack suspect’s home
April 17, 2023
Suspect in explosives attack on Japan's prime minister is indicted on attempted murder charge
September 7, 2023
Suspect’s home searched; bag seized at site of Kishida attack
April 16, 2023
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
