Nick Baker (prisoner in Japan)

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Nick Baker
Nick Baker
Charge(s) Drug smuggling
Penalty 11 years imprisonment,
¥3,000,000 fine
Status in prison
Occupation chef

Nick Baker is a professional chef from Gloucestershire, England who was arrested at Narita Airport, (Japan) on April 13, 2002 at the age of 32, on a charge of importing ecstasy and cocaine, which was found in false compartments in a suitcase he was carrying. At his trial Baker claimed that he was tricked by his traveling companion into carrying the drugs through customs. The court found Baker guilty of the charges and he was sentenced to 14 years jail with forced labour and fined ¥5,000,000 by the Chiba Prefecture District Court. On appeal the court upheld the verdict but reduced his sentence to 11 years in prison and the fine to ¥3,000,000. Baker will be eligible for transfer in 2008 to serve the remainder of his sentence in England.

Throughout the trial and appeal process, Baker's family and other supporters publicized Baker's case and criticized Japan's judicial process. Baker's story was reported on to some extent by western media, but almost completely ignored by Japanese-language media. Metropolis magazine later presented evidence that it believed pointed to Baker's guilt and criticized Baker's supporters for "deceiving the media and public".

Contents

[edit] Events surrounding Baker's arrest

Baker has claimed that he was duped by his travelling companion, James Prunier, whom he became friendly with after meeting 2-3 years previously at a local football club. Prunier, 8 years Baker's senior, came from a wealthy family and had been privately educated at Radley College.[1]

Baker claimed that they had been traveling in Europe buying up clothes to resell at flea markets in the countryside when Prunier suggested a trip to Japan for the 2002 World Cup. When they realized the World Cup schedule would conflict with Baker's business obligations, Prunier suggested they go earlier to visit the stadiums and buy some souvenirs. Described by his mother as a "football fanatic," Baker decided to take the journey. [2]

Baker claimed that, after a long and tiring flight, the pair were split up at immigration, leading to Prunier arriving at the baggage carousel first. When Baker arrived, Prunier told him that his (Baker's) bag had come and gone. Prunier, who was already holding his own suitcase, asked Baker to take it and get in the customs line while he waited for Baker's bag, whereupon he would join him in the queue. Prunier however joined a different queue with Baker's blue sports bag.[3] Upon reaching inspection, the grey Delsey suitcase Baker was holding for Prunier was found to contain 41,120 ecstasy tablets together with 992.5 grams of cocaine, the largest ever walk-through seizure of ecstasy at Narita Airport at that time.

While Baker was arrested, Prunier was able to enter and subsequently leave Japan freely. He was placed under surveillance and his phone calls monitored, but he was not questioned by Japanese police during his stay. He cut short his visit, leaving Japan only two days after Baker's arrest.[citation needed]

Three months later Prunier was arrested in Belgium for allegedly smuggling drugs along with three other young British people. In August 2003, whilst awaiting trial, Prunier gave an interview with Britain's Central Television in which he denied he had set up Baker and claimed to have received death threats relating to Baker's case.[4] In August 2004, Prunier, an unstable cocaine and alcohol addict, was found dead on a railway track in Gloucester aged 42. An inquest returned a suicide verdict.[5]

[edit] Detention

Under Japanese law, Baker was kept for 23 days, a system known as daiyo kangoku, before being charged with violating the Narcotic and Psychotropic Drug Control Law and Customs Law. According to Baroness Sarah Ludford, a member of the European Parliament and justice spokeswoman for the U.K. Liberal Democrats, Baker was interrogated without access to a lawyer and with poor translators and signed a confession he didn't understand. [6] Baker's lawyer, Shunji Miyake, stated that since there was no video or audio recording of the interrogations done by the police, there was no way to verify that they didn't falsify and mistranslate what Baker said in his statement. Miyake called into question the 'leading nature' of the questions asked by Baker's interrogators, as well as the misleading answers written down. [7]

Baker claimed that during interrogation the lights were on all the time so he couldn't sleep and that he didn't eat for 20 days.[6] Baker signed a testimony in Japanese, which he has since said was poorly translated and a misrepresentation of his words. [8] Until his trial, Baker was kept in solitary confinement for 10 months for failing to show remorse and put on suicide watch because of depression. [9]

[edit] Chiba District Court Trial

The trial centred on whether Mr Baker had been aware of the contents of the suitcase. Baker said he had been tricked into carrying it by Prunier. [8] However, the court refused to accept evidence from the Belgian police on the suspected methods of Prunier, despite recognising him as the mastermind of the operation. [8] According to Baker's mother, Iris, the prosecution also did not accept a copy of Baker and his partner's earnings, even though they were stamped by the British Embassy, saying they could be forgeries.[7]

The presiding judge, Kenji Kadoya, who had never found a defendant innocent in a career spanning more than a decade, said Baker must have known the contents of the case because he carried the key and told customs officials and prosecutors that the case belonged to him. Baker said his words had been misunderstood by officials with a poor grasp of English and inadequate interpreters who attended an interrogation which was never recorded or witnessed by a defence lawyer.[8]

In a three-hour judgment, which was an almost word-for-word copy of the prosecution's argument, Kadoya said "This is a heinous crime. "This amount of drugs was a record. If they had entered our country, they would have harmed a large number of people." [9] In June 2003, Baker was sentenced to 14 years in prison with forced labour and a Yen 5,000,000 fine. Baker appealed the verdict.

Baker's lawyer said Baker had been punished more heavily because he had protested his innocence rather than confessing, which is the usual method by which prosecutors secure convictions.[9] Lady Ludford said "Nick's trial was marked by an absence of safeguards expected in a civilised country: no lawyer present for three weeks of interrogation, no taping of interviews, and 10 months in solitary confinement for protesting his innocence. Most crucially for the defence, vital evidence was ignored". [9]

[edit] Tokyo High Court Appeal

The High Court Appeal began March 23, 2004 and ended on October 27, 2005, during which time the court convened 11 times for a total of around 18 hours. During the course of the trial the court-appointed translator,[10] the prosecutor, and one of the judges was changed [11] (Japan does not have a jury system, each trial is overseen by three judges).

The defence argued that there was collusion between prosecutors and customs investigation officers regarding the initial customs officers report. A reconstruction of the case and it's contents was submitted in order to prove that the key had been in a pocket in the suitcase all along and that the customs officials, who had earlier said that Baker had had the key on his person and had tossed it into the case, had lied. [11] They also submitted testimony from a linguistics professor showing discrepancies in the Chiba district court trials translation of Baker's statements. [12] It was also argued that the "Belgian Evidence" and Baker's tax returns should have been admitted in the lower court.[citation needed]

On October 27, 2005, the presiding judge upheld the guilty verdict,[13] ruling that Baker was aware of the contents of the case. However, the judge reduced the sentence from 14 years to 11 years noting that although Baker had not shown remorse "he does not seem to be the mastermind, and his parents have been worried about him." Baker's fine was also reduced from Yen 5,000,000- (approx. £24,392) to Yen 3,000,000- (approx. £14,635). Baker was awarded time served of 1,172 days against the sentence, excluding a percentage of time held in remand during the district court trial. His work rate was raised from Yen 10,000 to Yen 20,000 (approx. £97.58) per day. A daily "work rate" is the sum deducted from his fine, if it remains unpaid. In Baker's case, he will have 150 days added to his sentence if the fine is not paid.[14]

In November 2005 Baker decided not to appeal to Japan's Supreme Court and was transferred to Fuchu Prison to begin serving his sentence. Baker will be eligible to transfer to a UK prison in summer 2008, after one third of his remaining sentence has been completed in Japan.[14]

[edit] Justice for Nick Baker Campaign

In the summer of 2003, soon after the Chiba District Court verdict, Baker's mother Iris launched an awareness campaign and website [15] and called on concerned people to contact the Japanese and British embassies in their countries to demand fair and just treatment for Baker and other detainees in Japan. The campaign did not argue on the question of guilt or innocence, rather it asserted that Baker had not received a fair trial at the Chiba District Court, and strove to focus international attention on the upcoming High Court appeal.

The campaign also called for the reform of the Criminal justice system of Japan, specifically:

  1. The enshrinement of a detainee's right to legal council and the abandonment of the Daiyo kangoku system.
  2. Called for the introduction of tape-recording of interrogations and for proper licensing of court and police interpreters and translators.
  3. Action to improve Japan's 99.97% conviction rate[citation needed]

A petition signed by more than 5,000 people was presented by Iris Baker and Sarah Ludford to Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street. Iris Baker later presented the petition to the Tokyo High Court.[16]

During the appeal, the support group claimed that site visitor logs showed regular monitoring by the Ministry of Justice (Japan), and that administrators had received a warning from the High Court (delivered by e-mail via Baker's lawyer Shunji Miyake) demanding that criticism of the court interpreter be removed from the site.[17]

Due to the campaign major newspapers and television in the UK and English media in Japan reported on the case. Aside from a story in the Yomiuri Shimbun[citation needed], it was largely ignored by Japanese-language media.

[edit] Criticism by Metropolis magazine

Mark Devlin, the publisher of Metropolis, a Tokyo-based English language free magazine, and Japan Today, an Internet news portal, initially supported Baker's cause and promoted the case through his publications.[2] After reading on Baker's support site that Baker had been to Japan two months before his arrest[18] he withdrew his support[19] and claimed in an editorial in September 2004 that inconsistencies in Baker's story had multiplied and contradicted his supporters' portrayal of Baker as an innocent abroad.[20]

An article in Metropolis describes documents released by the defense[21] that indicated when Baker and Prunier had been traveling in Europe, Prunier was given a suitcase by members of the Israeli mafia and explained to Baker that he had to pay off a drug debt to them and had to bring something, possibly sex pills, back from Japan. The article also describes statements that the Israelis threatened Baker after check-in at the airport, threatening to kill members of his family, and showed him three murder-scene photos to illustrate their point.[14]

In November 2004, after Devlin had emailed a 30-page document entitled "The Nick Baker Deception" to other media and supporters, Iris Baker called him a spammer and claimed he had harvested emails from the support site.[22] Since she claimed Devlin had said she had "suppressed information"; "deceived the media and the public" and made "anti-Japanese statements" she also invited him to make these claims whilst in the UK so that she could proceed with a libel action. Devlin said Iris Baker's claims were "a ludicrous diversion from the inconsistencies in the case".[23]

Towards the end of the appeal information became available that the Belgian dupes had not been set free, but had actually been convicted and released with time served and suspended sentences.[14]

When questioned about Iris Baker's comments alleging a lack of government support, an official from the British Embassy noted that officials in Tokyo and London had helped the family in the UK and in Japan, worked to improve Baker’s conditions in prison, and arranged a pro-bono lawyer to review the case. The Embassy had translated the original court documents into English (at no cost to the family). Even though Iris Baker had translated court documents all along, she refused to release them to clarify the case.[14]

Also, Baker’s local MP, David Drew, would not give his support to the campaign, citing that his findings “did not tally with the account on [Baker’s] website”.[14]

[edit] Reactions to the Trials

The International Bar Association, which encompasses the Japanese Federation Of Bar Associations, cited problems specific to the Baker case, particularly the lack of any recordings of interrogations, in its paper "Interrogation of Criminal Suspects in Japan".[24]

Japanese nationals involved in the so-called "Melbourne Incident" including Chika Honda issued a statement supporting Baker; Six Members of European Parliament signed the Justice for Nick Baker petition and in the British House of Commons there were calls for Tony Blair to raise the issue during a summit with his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi. Baroness Ludford called the Baker case a "gross miscarriage of justice" and the High Court verdict "a stain on the reputation of Japan."[25]

Shuinji Miyake protested that the High Court had sidestepped the issues raised during the appeal. "It is deeply regrettable that everything we argued in court was dismissed," he said.[26]

With regard to the translations, Linguistics Professor Makiko Mizuno of Osaka's Senrikinran University, criticised the Japanese judiciary, saying "understanding needs to change immediately" regarding what constitutes an able interpreter. Japan has no licensing system for court interpreters, and defendants are not permitted to hire their own. Judge Tao had, in dismissing the defence's complaints about interpreters' abilities, noted that some interpreters had high TOEIC scores or had passed Tour-Guide Certification tests.[26]

The UK charity group Fair Trials Abroad's director Stephen Jakobi criticized the 23-day interrogation period and interrogation without counsel, the signing of "confession" documents in a language foreign suspects usually cannot understand, and the prosecution's withholding of evidence. He said Japan had not abided by the fair trial provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which it is treaty bound: "The Japanese justice system was on trial here and it failed."[27]

Mark Devlin said, “Baker’s supporters misrepresented the case to the media and the public to make him appear innocent. In doing so they wasted a lot of people’s hope, time, effort and money.” [14] Devlin also called for the disbandment of the support group and asked whether funds collected by Iris Baker would be returned. [19]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ List of Lost Old Radleians. www.radley.org.uk/ (date unknown). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  2. ^ a b Trial and error. Metropolis (Japanese magazine) (November 7, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  3. ^ Nick Baker letter regarding circumstances of arrest. justicefornickbaker.org (November 12, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  4. ^ Nick wasn't set up says travelling companion. Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard (August 29, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  5. ^ Train suicide for drugs case man. BBC News (February 9, 200). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Convicted Briton says he was drug run patsy: Groups claim miscarriage of justice. The Japan Times (October 23, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  7. ^ a b The struggle for Justice. theforeigner-japan.com (November, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  8. ^ a b c d Peer alleges Briton's trial is flawed. The Guardian (May 29, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c d 'Duped' Briton gets 14 years: Outrage over Japanese drug smuggling sentence. The Guardian (June 13, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  10. ^ Jailed Briton's appeal postponed. BBC News (May 11, 2004). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  11. ^ a b Nick Baker case - key proves key to the defence. Sarah Ludford MEP (June 8, 2005). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  12. ^ Nick Baker trial - spotlight on mistranslations. Sarah Ludford MEP (January 12, 2005). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  13. ^ Judge rejects drugs man's appeal. BBC News (October 27, 2004). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g True Crime: Convicted drug smuggler Nick Baker’s story is not what it first appeared. Metropolis (Japanese magazine) (November 18, 2005). Retrieved on January 12, 2007.
  15. ^ Justice for Nick Baker, justicefornickbaker.org
  16. ^ The Campaign goes to Downing Street. Sarah Ludford MEP (September 11, 2003). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  17. ^ 2004 Round-up by Iris Baker - Japanese Court Tries to Muzzle Brit Mum. justicefornickbaker.org (November 14, 2004). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  18. ^ Justice for Nick Baker Q & A. justicefornickbaker.org (January, 2004). Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
  19. ^ a b Prisoner's mother is accused by publisher. Swindon Advertiser (September 30, 2004). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  20. ^ We, the jury: The Nick Baker case. Metropolis (Japanese magazine) (September 4, 2004). Retrieved on January 14, 2007.
  21. ^ Nick Baker: Translation of appeal defense document. justicefornickbaker.org (June 17, 2004). Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
  22. ^ Iris Baker accuses Devlin of spamming. justicefornickbaker.org (November, 2004). Retrieved on January 12, 2007.
  23. ^ False claims by Iris Baker. markdevlin.com (January, 2005). Retrieved on January 12, 2007.
  24. ^ "Interrogation of Criminal Suspects in Japan", International Bar Association, December 2003
  25. ^ Japan prisoner Nick Baker: reduced sentence, but still no justice. sarahludfordmep.org.uk (2005-10-27). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  26. ^ a b FTA Review 2006. Fair Trials Abroad (date unknown). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
  27. ^ Nick Baker appeal result - The Japanese system was on trial and it failed. Fair Trials Abroad (2005-10-27). Retrieved on January 16, 2007.

[edit] External links

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