Tokyo Court to Show Excerpts of Interrogation Video in Damages Suit

The Tokyo District Court decided Thursday it will show one hour of video recordings from a prosecutor interrogation during oral proceedings next month in a damages lawsuit. Naoyuki Ikuta, 52, president of Techno System, a solar power generation company, is suing the state for ¥11 million in damages.

He alleges improper interrogation by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office after his arrest on fraud charges.

Ikuta was interrogated for 41 consecutive days between May 2021 and July 2021, totaling roughly 205 hours. He claims prosecutors insulted and threatened him, including the statement “Being hostile to the Public Prosecutor’s Office means (you are a part of) antisocial forces,” and that his right to remain silent and personal rights were infringed.

The state has argued the interrogations did not exceed socially acceptable limits.

Ikuta was indicted on fraud charges, sentenced to 11 years in prison in the first trial, and has filed an appeal. In the damages case, Ikuta requested the court show 61 scenes totaling one hour and 15 minutes of the video. The court accepted the request to display excerpts.

Separately, the court on June 24 accepted Ikuta’s request to commit prosecutor Hiroshi Horiki, 57, who conducted the interrogation, to criminal trial. The Tokyo High Public Prosecutor’s Office had dropped coercive interrogation charges against Horiki in March due to insufficient evidence.

Ikuta’s attorney, Hiroshi Kawatsu, said after Thursday’s proceeding that exposing the interrogations to public criticism could help suppress such practices in the future.