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Letter from jail from Mr Idubor, Nigerian sentenced without any material evidence
Posted by debito on January 12th, 2008
Hi Blog. I’ve talked a number of times about the Idubor Case on this blog, where a Nigerian was incarcerated without chance of bail (according to his lawyer, foreigners aren’t allowed bail in Japan because they’re considered a flight risk) from January 2007 to December 2007, awaiting completion of trial for alleged rape charges.
Then on December 10, 2007, he was sentenced to three years’ jail, despite no material evidence of rape whatsoever, and gaping holes in the accuser’s testimony. More background at Debito.org here.
I heard on Tuesday that Mr Idubor’s lawyer didn’t get hold of the court decision until January 8, meaning the judge inexplicably kept them waiting a month for public documents depriving a man of his liberty. When I get a copy myself, I’ll report on it for Debito.org.
If you would like to sign a petition regarding this case, please see one that Mrs Idubor has created at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-foreigner-in-danger-in-japan (NB: she is not a native speaker of English).
Make no mistake–if assignation of guilt like this without evidence can happen to him, it can happen to you. All it takes is a Japanese with a grudge and a foreigner, preferably of color or undesirable nationality (see recent Ishihara comment on Africans).
Mr Idubor is only allowed to pass seven pages of written text per day to his wife from jail. He took that opportunity to send three pages specially to Debito.org. I reproduce them for public view below. Arudou Debito in Sapporo
(Click on image to expand in browser)
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PETITION AT: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-foreigner-in-danger-in-japan
Drop by the Idubors’ bar, located here:
(Closed Mondays)
Big Ys Cafe
Yokohama-shi Naka-ku
Yamashita-cho 106-3
Laport Motomachi 104
Tel. 045-662-2261
Its open from 18:00 till morning. Map downloadable in Excel and htm format:
http://www.debito.org/bigycafemap.xls
http://www.debito.org/bigycafemap.htm
Great rotisserie chicken. Seriously.
ENDS
January 12th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Is anyone able to show us the evidence presented against Mr. Idubor?
I would help as much as I could, if I thought it was the right thing to do, but there’s a huge lacuna of information here. There has been at least one rape trial in Japan where the accused was a foreigner whom I initially supported merely on the basis of unfair detention and access to resources, only to find out later that, in all likelihood, they were probably guilty.
I am not saying that I think Mr. Idubor is guilty, only that I wish I had more information.
–SO DO I. WHAT I HAVE (ASIDE FROM THE PAGES OF DEFENSE ARGUMENT MADE BY HIS LAWYER IN JAPANESE TO THE COURT, WHICH I HAVEN’T WEBBED) IS UP ON MY SITE, AND I DON’T HAVE THE DECISION TO PICK APART YET. DID YOU CHECK OUT WHAT INFORMATION I HAVE MADE AVAILABLE ON THIS BLOG? WHAT QUESTIONS LINGER AFTER READING IT? THANKS. DEBITO
January 15th, 2008 at 12:51 am
In as much as it is sad to note that my brother has being incarcerated for no reason. I hope this is an eye opener for all foreigners living in japan to be cautious in their dealings and encourage more NGOs or other organizations that will support people that find themselves in this kind of situation. As it stands foreigners in that country don’t have any chance whatsoever to live a normal life withour fear of being accused and sentenced wrongfully.
on this note, i thank all who has being by my brother and his family at this difficult time and i pray the good lord will bless every one accordingly. Please do not relapse in your effort to help us achieve our goal which is justice for Osayuwamen Idubor.
Many thanks.
Lisa Idubor