Overview

• Senior officials from the Metropolitan Police Department and the prosecution visited a Yokohama cemetery and apologized at the grave of former adviser Shizuo Aijima, who died in detention after being indicted.
• Aijima’s family accepted the apology but called the verification process insufficient and urged a full re-examination of the case and tougher sanctions for those involved.
• Deputy Prosecutor General Hiroshi Yamamoto said the Supreme Prosecutors Office is not considering reopening the investigation or revising disciplinary measures at this stage.
• The Tokyo High Court’s May ruling that parts of the police and prosecutors’ probe were illegal is final, and an August 7 report admitted failures such as weak review of exculpatory evidence and persistent opposition to bail but led to no punishments.
• In a separate accountability case, Osaka prosecutors indicted two prefectural police officers for assaulting a man during a July search, while investigators in Kobe detailed the suspect’s post-attack taxi ride to Shin-Kobe Station before fleeing by Shinkansen.