東電ＯＬ事件 再審無罪で冤罪の検証が要る

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Nov. 9, 2012)
Investigators, judicial authorities should review Mainali's case
東電ＯＬ事件　再審無罪で冤罪の検証が要る（11月8日付・読売社説）

Fifteen years after a female employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. was killed in 1997, the acquittal of Govinda Prasad Mainali has been finalized at last. Investigation and judicial authorities bear heavy responsibility as they convicted an innocent person.
　事件から１５年を経ての無罪確定である。
　冤罪(えんざい)を引き起こした捜査当局と裁判所の責任は重い。

In a retrial, which concluded Wednesday, the Tokyo High Court acquitted the 46-year-old Nepalese man of the murder, for which he had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
　東京電力の女性社員が１９９７年に殺害された事件の再審で、東京高裁は無期懲役となったネパール人のゴビンダ・プラサド・マイナリさん（４６）を無罪とする判決を言い渡した。

It was a reasonable conclusion to reach considering the court judged it highly likely a third person was the real culprit. The prosecution abandoned its right to appeal to the Supreme Court.
　高裁が「第三者が犯人である疑いが強い」と判断した以上、当然の結論と言える。検察は上告する権利の放棄を申し立てた。

The decisive factor leading to the acquittal was evidence from material found underneath the victim's nails, from which DNA from a third person was detected.
　無罪を決定付けたのは、被害者の手の爪に残っていた付着物だ。マイナリさんとは異なる人物のＤＮＡ型が検出されていた。

The ruling placed great importance on the DNA results, saying, "It can be assumed the woman grabbed the culprit's hands and struggled hard to break his grip when she was strangled to death."
　判決はこの鑑定結果を重視した上で、「女性が首を絞められて殺害される際、渾身(こんしん)の力で犯人の手をつかんで引き離そうとしたと想定される」と認定した。

It was in January 2007, while Mainali was serving his term in prison, that the defense demanded prosecutors examine the material under the victim's nails. The prosecutors, however, went so far as to deny its existence, saying, "Nothing was found from [the victim's] nails."
　弁護側が爪の付着物について、検察側に鑑定を求めたのは、マイナリさんが服役していた２００７年１月のことだ。しかし、検察は「爪からは何も検出されていない」と付着物の存在さえ否定する回答をしていた。

Subsequently, a third person's DNA was found in bodily fluid left on the woman's breast, among other items--a finding leading to the decision to grant Mainali a retrial.
　その後、女性の胸などに残された体液から第三者のＤＮＡ型が見つかった。

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Attitudes a 'serious problem'

Prosecutors, driven into a corner by the finding, then examined the material found under the nails, even though they had earlier claimed there was no such evidence. However, the same person's DNA was found in the material.
これにより、再審開始が決定し、追いつめられた検察は「存在しない」としていた爪の付着物を鑑定した結果、同じ第三者のＤＮＡ型が検出された。

To our chagrin, prosecutors have become defiant, claiming they never concealed evidence. They have maintained a stance to never admit their mistakes, nor review their process in prosecuting Mainali.
　ところが、あきれたことに、検察は「証拠隠しはない」と居直っている。過ちを認めず、冤罪に至った経緯の検証を一切行わない姿勢も示している。

We find this kind of attitude a serious problem.
　極めて問題である。

The public's distrust in prosecutors will only grow unless they rectify their stance of withholding evidence detrimental to their cases.
　自分が不利になりそうな証拠は開示しないという姿勢をたださなければ、国民の検察不信は一段と深まるだろう。

In January last year, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations made a proposal to the public, saying an organization to examine cases in which people were falsely accused of crimes should be set up in the Diet. The proposal called for the organization to be independent both from investigative and judicial authorities.
　日本弁護士連合会は昨年１月、捜査機関や裁判所から独立した冤罪検証組織を国会に設けるべきだとする提言を発表した。

It may be difficult for prosecutors to continue to ignore the proposal if they do not undertake reforms on their own.
検察が自浄能力を発揮しないのなら、こうした声も無視できなくなろう。

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Courts took away freedom

It is also necessary for judicial authorities to do some serious soul-searching on this case. The high court handed down a guilty sentence to Mainali by overturning an acquittal verdict at the district court--a decision upheld by the Supreme Court. These false judgments deprived him of years of freedom.
　裁判所も猛省が必要だ。１審の無罪判決を破棄し、逆転有罪とした高裁、その判断を支持した最高裁の誤判により、マイナリさんは長期間、自由を奪われた。

Mainali released a statement to prosecution and judicial authorities, saying, "I'd like you to fully review and consider why I went through this." They must respond to his request.
　マイナリさんは検察や裁判所に対し、「どうして私がこんな目にあったのか、よく調べ、よく考えてください」とのコメントを出した。これに応えねばならない。

The Metropolitan Police Department plans to reinvestigate the case. The DNA discovered before finalizing Mainali's acquittal is surely important evidence to finding the true culprit. The MPD should undertake an all-out investigation of this case.
　警視庁は再捜査に乗り出す方針だ。再審無罪が確定するまでに、新たに見つかったＤＮＡ型は、真犯人に結びつく重要な証拠となろう。徹底捜査を望みたい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 8, 2012)
（2012年11月8日02時00分  読売新聞）