The Yasuda Arrest: Criminal and Political Considerations
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Leading Anti-death penalty attorney found guilty.
04/24/2008
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
The chief defense lawyer for a man sentenced to death Tuesday for murders committed when he was a minor was himself found guilty in a separate case by the Tokyo High Court on Wednesday.
Yoshihiro Yasuda, chief defense attorney for the man who killed a woman and her daughter in Hikari, Yamaguchi Prefecture, nine years ago, was fined 500,000 yen for helping a client hide assets from debt collectors. The high court overturned a lower court's not-guilty ruling.
Yasuda, 60, a vocal opponent of the death penalty, was indicted in 1998 for obstructing compulsory seizure in a debt collection case.
At the time, Yasuda also led the defense team for Aum Shinrikyo founder Chizuo Matsumoto, who is now on death row.(IHT/Asahi: April 24,2008)
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Death-penalty foe fined by court
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Lawyer who prevented client's asset seizure claims case was aimed at silencing him
By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday overturned a lower court ruling and fined lawyer Yoshihiro Yasuda ¥500,000 for obstructing compulsory seizures of the assets of his client by moneylenders between 1993 and 1996.
The court case has been closely watched because Yasuda, 60, is known as a prominent opponent of capital punishment who earlier led the defense for Shoko Asahara, founder of the Aum Shinrikyo cult.
He was also the chief defense lawyer for a man sentenced to death Tuesday for killing a 23-year-old woman and her 11-month-old daughter in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1999 — a controversial case that drew nationwide attention because the defendant was a minor at the time of the murders.
Yasuda's attorneys in the case against him had argued that the obstruction charges were concocted by prosecutors with a political motivation — as an attempt to intimidate the vocal lawyer and "silence the annoyance."
He immediately appealed to the Supreme Court.
In handing down the ruling, presiding Judge Kohei Ikeda said Yasuda devised a clever scheme for his client — a bankrupt real estate company — to avoid income seizures.
Ikeda said Yasuda was merely an accomplice in the crime, but the judge described his advice as "malicious acts" which ultimately resulted in the obstruction.
"The defendant has continued to deny his involvement with a variety of excuses, and has shown no signs of self-examination," Ikeda said.
According to the verdict, Yasuda conspired with the real estate company's executives and advised them to ask tenants of its buildings to deposit rent in two dummy accounts. The act prevented some ¥200 million from being seized by moneylenders.
Tokyo-based Sun's Corporation Tokyo Ltd. was a major borrower from the failed "jusen" mortgage lenders. Yasuda acknowledged during earlier sessions of the trial that he tried to help his client escape asset seizures by relocating its rent income, but argued that his advice was within the boundaries of the law.
Yasuda and two executives from the real estate company were arrested in 1998 while the lawyer was heading the defense for Asahara's trial. He was held for approximately 10 months following the arrest.
Prosecutors alleged that the transactions were "clearly an attempt to obstruct compulsory seizure" and demanded a two-year prison term.
Yasuda's defense attorneys, however, countered that he was performing his job as a lawyer and advised his client to separate its leasing division accounts to secure jobs and payments for its workers.
"This verdict is extremely politically motivated," lawyer Makoto Iwai told reporters after the ruling. "I am very disappointed."
He said the decision will discourage lawyers from properly carrying out their jobs.
The Tokyo District Court in December 2003 acquitted Yasuda of the charges on the grounds that the lawyer's advice was justifiable and the intention was to help rebuild the failing company. The two executives meanwhile had their suspended prison terms finalized in March 2006.
Yasuda maintained his innocence throughout the trial, while approximately 2,100 lawyers registered as his defense attorneys to back his appeal.
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東京・不動産会社の資産隠し：安田弁護士、逆転有罪 強制執行妨害－－東京高裁判決
毎日新聞 2008年4月23日 中部夕刊
経営難に陥った顧問先の不動産会社の資産計約２億円を隠したとして強制執行妨害罪に問われた弁護士、安田好弘被告（６０）に対し、東京高裁（池田耕平裁判長）は２３日、１審・東京地裁の無罪判決を破棄し、罰金５０万円の逆転有罪を言い渡した。
死刑廃止運動の中心的存在として知られる安田弁護士は、オウム真理教の松本智津夫（麻原彰晃）死刑囚（５３）の主任弁護人だった９８年１２月に逮捕された。最近では山口県光市の母子殺害事件の主任弁護人を務め、元少年に死刑を言い渡した２２日の広島高裁判決にも立ち会った。
安田弁護士は、顧問だった不動産会社「スンーズコーポレーション東京リミテッド」（東京）の社長（７２）＝有罪確定＝らと共謀し、９３年３月～９６年９月、ス社が所有する賃貸ビル２棟のテナントから賃料をダミー会社の口座に振り込ませ、計約２億円を隠したとして起訴された。東京地裁は０３年１２月、「不動産会社への助言に違法性はなかった」として無罪を言い渡し、懲役２年を求刑していた検察側が控訴した。
控訴審で検察側は「賃料収入を債権者に取られないように確保することを不動産会社社長と話し合っており、強制執行妨害罪が成立する」として無罪判決の破棄を求めた。弁護側は「違法性のない会社再建構想を示しただけ」と主張していた。【伊藤一郎】