Photo/Illutration Ado Matsumoto, a lawyer, holds up a T-shirt that reads, “I refuse to be interrogated,” at a news conference in Osaka’s Kita Ward on Dec. 17. (Tetsuaki Otaki)

OSAKA—Police confiscated a T-shirt worn by a suspect that carried the message, “I refuse to be interrogated,” deeming the words “dangerous” and a potential influence on other detainees, his lawyer said.

“It was about protecting (his) right to remain silent,” the lawyer, Ado Matsumoto, said at a news conference on Dec. 17. “Taking it away is a violation of the right to remain silent.”

The man, a resident of Osaka Prefecture in his 50s, was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of abandoning his responsibility to protect someone under his care, resulting in death.

While the suspect was detained at the Habikino Police Station, Matsumoto encouraged him to remain silent and gave him the T-shirt.

The man was wearing the shirt on Dec. 11 at the detention center. But, according to Matsumoto, a prefectural police officer took the shirt away from him, saying, “It is problematic in terms of its message.”

Matsumoto asked an officer at the detention management section about the incident and was told that the T-shirt was a “dangerous object that disrupts discipline and order.”

Matsumoto later protested to the prefectural police headquarters.

A representative of the prefectural police told The Asahi Shimbun: “The police station had few places to store items and only had room for hazardous materials. We did not consider (the T-shirt) dangerous.”

However, the representative also said, “We will not allow (the man) to wear the shirt in the future because it may attract the attention of other detainees and have a psychological effect on them.”

At the news conference, the suspect said through a call to Matsumoto, “When I was wearing that clothing, I was able to remain silent with dignity.”

The lawyer said: “This is a problem because it constitutes regulation of the content of expression, too. If they talk about discipline and order, there must be a real and tangible danger to harm them.”

The T-shirt in question was made by a group of lawyers called RAIS (Rights Against Interrogation Society).

The group points out that in Japan, even when suspects try to exercise their right to remain silent, they continued to be interviewed on grounds they have a “duty to submit to interrogation.”

RAIS says that to effectively guarantee the right to remain silent, it is necessary to refuse the interrogation itself.

The group has created a practical manual for the right to refuse interrogation and published it on its website.

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