Overview
- The complainant in the case against former Osaka chief prosecutor Kitagawa has formed an association of lawyers, medical professionals and survivors and submitted materials to Osaka District Court to press for PTSD from sexual violence to be legally treated as an external injury.
- The victim has asked prosecutors to change the charge to the injury-causing offense but that request has not been accepted in the ongoing criminal proceedings against Kitagawa.
- The trial of former special-prosecution prosecutor Tabuchi entered its fourth hearing on October 6, with his defense arguing his interrogation conduct does not meet the criminal standard for '陵虐' and pleading not guilty.
- Under current law the injury-causing statute is tied to visible or external bodily harm, so recognizing PTSD as an external injury would affect whether prosecutors indict, whether cases are dropped or penalties reduced, and how courts measure harm in sexual-violence cases.
- The newly formed group plans petitions to the Justice Ministry and the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office while both the Kitagawa case and prosecutions of prosecutors like Tabuchi continue, a sequence that could prompt changes in charging practices and scrutiny of interrogation methods and their human impact.