Yoshihiro Yasuda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yoshihiro Yasuda (安田好弘 Yasuda Yoshihiro, born 1948) is a famed and controversial lawyer in Japan who is known for his anti-death penalty activism in Japan.

[edit] Asahara Trial

Yasuda was one of defenders for Shoko Asahara, founder of the religious cult group Aum Shinrikyo accused of various crimes, including the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack. In 1998, during Asahara's trial, Yasuda was arrested and charged with the suspicion of obstructions of the compulsory execution concerning a corporation in which he was an adviser. Some critics pointed out that this accusation was implemented because prosecutors were angry at Yasuda's court tactics to delay the trial as long as possible to avoid the sentence of highly possible death penalty for Asahara. 1200 lawyers listed as Yasuda's defenders, and Japan Federation of Bar Associations and Amnesty International protested that this accusation was unfairness. In 2003 Tokyo District Court acquitted him of all charges, but Tokyo prosecutors office appealed this case to a higher court, and the trial is going on as of May 2007.

[edit] Trial of Homicides in Hikari City

Yasuda is also a chief defender for the 19 year old boy accused of murder of a pregnant woman and her 1 year old girl in Hikari city, Yamaguchi. This case was received much attentions because of afflicting circumstances of the crime and the possibility to sentence a death penalty to the suspect under minority. In March 2006, Yasuda and his defenders group were absent from oral argument process without appropriate reason. Japanese media criticised that their behavior was to delay the trial just as same as Asahara's one, and the supreme court ordered him to attend the next argument.