DEFENSE COUNSEL UCHIYAMA
In fifteen years of service, the stolid Uchiyama has kept his search for the truth at the forefront of his pursuit of excellence. His sturdy build and strong face should reassure the public; he does nothing without thought for the victims, for the populace, for justice, and for the eventual absolution of the criminal. Well-known among his comrades, he has earned a fine reputation. We look forward to seeing his work in this trial.
ODA TRIAL COVERAGE [Ko Eiji]
DAY ONE
Oda Sotatsu is brought into the room. He is seated. He, Prosecutor Saito, and Defense Counsel Uchiyama await the entrance of the judges. One by one the judges enter the room and are seated.
The rumor is that while in police custody, Mr. Oda refused to speak. It is said by some in the radical press that he was treated badly, and that view may well be borne out by the poor health he appears to exhibit. However, opponents of that view would be quick to point out that remorse could easily be destroying his health. Whatever the case is, we shall see if he continues his silence into the trial.
The prosecutor and defense counsel approach the judges. Some discussion is evident. They return to their places. The prosecution presents its indictment. Oda Sotatsu is accused of the abduction and murder of eleven individuals. When the charges are read, Mr. Oda is unmoved. His knuckles are not white, his pupils do not dilate, his brow does not quiver. He is quite unmoved.
Nothing seems to touch him as Prosecutor Saito speaks, not even the reading aloud of a damning document signed by Mr. Oda himself prior to reaching police custody. It is a confession, but it is not a confession signed and countersigned legally in the eyes of the law. It may show his guilt, but whether it can be considered the equal of a properly-arrived-at-confession is a matter to be discovered in time.
The judges confer. The question is brought to Oda Sotatsu and to Defense Counsel Uchiyama:
Will Oda Sotatsu admit or deny the facts as set down in the indictment?
Oda Sotatsu speaks. It is as though he is summoning up words from deep within him, with great difficulty. At first what he says cannot be made out. Judge Shibo asks that he speak louder. He is made to speak louder. He says, He does not know about the facts of the indictment, yet he holds to the confession that he signed, as he signed it.
This is not good enough for the judges. Again, he is asked, concerning the facts of the indictment prepared by Prosecutor Saito, does he admit or deny them? Mr. Oda repeats himself. He does not know about the facts of the indictment, yet he holds to the confession that he signed, as he signed it. Mr. Oda is told that he has just heard the indictment. He cannot be thought ignorant of the indictment. What is being asked of him is that he simply admit or deny those facts. Mr. Oda speaks again, he says that he, while aware of the indictment, nonetheless can neither admit nor deny it, rather, he respectfully holds to the confession that he has signed, as he signed it.
Through all this, Defense Counsel Uchiyama appears greatly chagrined, but attempts to appear unmoved. Can it be he did not know this was going to happen?
The judges call for a recess. The trial will continue on the following day.
ODA TRIAL COVERAGE [Ko Eiji]
DAY TWO
Oda Sotatsu is brought into the room. He is seated. He, Prosecutor Saito, and Defense Counsel Uchiyama await the entrance of the judges. One by one the judges enter the room and are seated.
The judges announce: it has been decided that, as the general effect of the language present in the confession is a mirror to that of the indictment, it is legitimate and appropriate that admitting the facts of the confession is identical to admitting the facts of the indictment, and that as a practical matter, it shall be considered as such in this case.
The court will therefore be recessed for the day, and on the following day Prosecutor Saito will present his case.
ODA TRIAL COVERAGE [Ko Eiji]
CONDITION OF MR. ODA
It has become known that Oda Sotatsu has, at some point in the week previous, stopped eating altogether. At the point of the trial’s inception, he was on the fourth or fifth day of his fast. In the radical papers, it is being called a hunger strike. We see no grounds for that, as it is not apparent that Mr. Oda’s fast has any purpose, or any possible object. Certainly, Mr. Oda has not made that object known.
ODA TRIAL COVERAGE [Ko Eiji]
ATMOSPHERE IN THE PREFECTURE
While staying in the region for the trial, I have witnessed a huge outpouring of emotion. There is great hope that the trial may move Mr. Oda to confess the location of the victims of the Narito Disappearances. Whether that will happen or not is, however, completely unknown. It is even espoused in some legal circles that the trial may be lengthened in the hopes that the particular sort of pressure it exerts might be helpful in eliciting a full disclosure by Mr. Oda. Whether that will be the case or not is unclear. Certainly it appears that no effort has been spared in the selection of the individuals involved in the trial. Also, the results of Prosecutor Saito’s pretrial investigation have not yet been made known. It is quite conceivable that he has discovered information that may be of use.
Ko
Interview
[Int. note. I had intended to give you more of Ko Eiji’s serialization, but I find that I want, again and again, to intercede and explain things. Therefore, I believe, we will continue, as if on foot, together. I decided to try to find Mr. Ko; indeed, I managed to find Mr. Ko, and he consented to speak to me about the trial. I present the results of that interview below.]
[This interview took place in Ko Eiji’s own home, a shabby building on the south side of Sakai. His daughter let me in, but left immediately after seeing that I was situated and given various measures of hospitality. We sat by a long series of windows looking out toward the harbor. The old journalist explained that he liked to sit there in the mornings, but that the noise became too much in the afternoon, and he would retire then to the far side of the house. I told him that the interview would likely not take such a long time as that.]
INT.
Mr. Ko, I wonder if you would give an explanation of the final days of the trial of Oda Sotatsu. Your coverage of it was quite sensational at the time, and syndicated throughout the country. How did events play out?
KO
He simply wouldn’t speak. There were, I suppose, many things he might have said. He said none of them. Apart from the moment when he was made to speak, at the trial’s beginning, he did not speak again. It simply wasn’t the way a prisoner should behave, certainly not the way an innocent man would. The whole thing defied reason. If it was a joke, it was the strangest joke in the world, and for a person to risk his own life, and with no sense of what anything might mean? I just don’t know.