A woman wrongly convicted explains how Japan’s prosecutors interrogate suspects: “The statements prosecutors try to obtain are based on their ‘story.’ They’ll question you with various tactics to get a statement that fits their story…But it is a cherry-picked version of the prosecution’s opinion.”
https://gendai.media/articles/-/165308?imp=0
6 Comments
Higaruma Hiromi agrees
They will throw you in a cell without a reason at all, fabricate the story while you are in there, and then try to get you to confess to their final product. The system is built upon it. These false confessions get the harsher penalties. Serial killers? Out walking in broad daylight. Why? Oh, they *could not find enough evidence.*
Keeping silent is (likely) the best strategy to battle prosecutors.
EDIT: If the prosecutors couldn’t collect enough evidence(and/or confession) to win the trial, they just wouldn’t charge. This is how 99% conviction rate works, and the prosecution rate is around 40-50%. Keeping silent for 20 days is the only tactic that citizens can use in most cases. And the author of this article mentioned in her book, a prosecutor told her that their job is not to get the true confession, but to get a confession that can win the trial.
99% conviction rate. They don’t have a job except coercing people into admission. It’s sad and Japan should be ashamed.
You know there is something inherently wrong when the system is oddly “efficient” (99% rate) in a country where once you live in, you start to realize that efficiency depends a lot on the situation and if it’s for what *they* want, or what *you* want.
This is why you should know your rights and try to avoid the police as much as possible in your daily interactions. The criminal justice conveyor belt moves quickly in only one direction.