Decision on charges may take months for U.S. teens in Japanese custody

[unhappycamper]

Decision on charges may take months for U.S. teens in Japanese custody
By Teri Weaver and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, December 20, 2009

TOKYO — Four U.S. teens in Japanese custody on suspicion of attempted murder could stay in confinement well into February before facing any criminal charges, according to Japanese legal experts.

The teens — an 18-year-old, a 17-year-old and two 15-year-olds — were arrested Dec. 5, suspected of stringing a rope across a street near Yokota Air Base in August and causing a Japanese motorcyclist to crash. The 23-year-old woman who was driving suffered a skull fracture and lay in a coma for weeks.

Since their arrests, the teens have been questioned by Japanese prosecutors without the presence of their parents or defense attorneys, military officials said Friday. All are younger than 20 and thus minors under Japanese law, which allows extended detention while a family court judge weighs a recommendation on whether to file charges.

They have been held separately, first at a local police station and now at four separate juvenile detention centers, according to military officials. Their parents — servicemembers in Yokota units — have visited the teens, but it’s unlikely the families can talk alone without guards and interpreters nearby, one legal scholar said.

The prolonged confinement and one-sided interrogations bear little resemblance to judicial procedures in the United States, where suspects can request lawyers and where prosecutors must bring charges quickly in open documents and courtrooms.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66761



unhappycamper comment: "The prolonged confinement and one-sided interrogations bear little resemblance to judicial procedures in the United States, where suspects can request lawyers and where prosecutors must bring charges quickly in open documents and courtrooms."

True, unless you're unlucky enough to be confined in Guantanamo or Bagram or some other black site.