High Court Appeal First Hearing

Nick Baker appeared today in the Tokyo High Court as his team of lawyers began their appeal of his 2003 drug smuggling conviction. It was a cold and rainy day in Tokyo as Nick, dressed in a pair of tan chino pants and a light windbreaker, was led into the courtroom, handcuffed and tethered and escorted by three burly guards.

Before the proceedings began, Nick's principle lawyer Shunji Miyake came round to the prisoner's area to ask Nick how he felt. "Like shit," whispered a clearly distressed Nick. Throughout the one-hour session, Nick fidgeted and shook, his leg endlessly tapping the floor of the courtroom. Nick has now been in detention for almost two years.

The courtroom, on the seventh floor of the Tokyo High Court Building in central Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda Ward, was uncomfortably warm and rather stuffy. At the far end, on an elevated platform, the three judges sat in igh backed leather chairs. To their right was a young female whose duties were unclear (perhaps a stenographer, although she stood up and left midway through the proceedings, returning several minutes later). Against the right wall sat Nick's three lawyers. On a bench in front of them was Nick, at a desk with his three guards, one on either side and one between him and the public gallery. In front of the judges was a booth with the court clerk and a translator. The prosecutor, a balding middle-aged man named Tanaka, sat alone at a desk on the left. Occasionally shuffling papers, Tanaka for the most part sat motionless and expressionless, eyes half closed. He did not speak a word throughout the session, and seemed to drift off at times.

The one hour session began with judge Kenjiro Tao asking Nick to identify himself and testify to his age, domicile, occupation and so on. The young female translator was sworn in by the judge, and she then informed Nick in good English that she would be acting as his translator throughout the appeal.

Following this, the translator began to read from a 33 page document which details the defense council's arguments for the appeal. Unfortunately, she was mostly inaudible. Nick craned his neck and pressed forward over the desk, hand cupped round his ear, in an attempt to hear better. But the interpreter could not see Nick, as she was hunchbacked throughout her recital, her head buried in the text. From the public gallery, not a square inch of her face was visible as she mumbled into her desk. The gallery was almost full with supporters (Govinda support Group, Amnesty International Japan), journalists (freelance, BBC), and the curious. At the end of the session I asked most of the people exiting the room if they had clearly heard the translator. Nobody had.

One membe r of Nick's support team engaged the translator after the session had ended, complaining that if she were meant to be addressing the court she should not bury her head in a desk. She replied that her translation was not for the public gallery but for the accused, and if Nick could not hear he should have indicated this to her. Again, as Nick had craned his neck and pressed forward over the desk, hand cupped round his ear, this would have indicated he was having difficulty hearing her, were she to have looked up toward him. When others from the public gallery stepped up to say that they also had not heard her, the translator first complained that she had had only two days to review the defense document (?), then finally promised that she would use a microphone next time.

For some 45 minutes, the interpreter read through the defense argument, completing 14 of the 33 pages before Judge Toa instructed her to stop as time had run out. The next session was proposed for April 20th, but the translator complained that she was busy that day, and so the date was set back to May 11th.

The defense arguments presented on day one of the appeal took a new tact -- rather than argue from Nick's point of view, the defense team sought to illustrate the modus operandi of "Mr. A." The so-called "Mr. A" was Nick's traveling companion. After Nick was indicted in Japan, Mr. A was detained in Belgium for allegedly tricking three young UK travelers into smuggling drugs of the same type Nick attempted to carry through Japanese customs. In Belgium, authorities released the 'mules' without charges and arrested Mr. A. To avoid complications, we have been asked not to name Mr. A on this site, although he was been named by Judge Kenji Kadoya in Japanese court, and described by Kadoya as "the principle offender" in Nick's smuggling case.

The defense introduced 10 points which contradict the prosecution's argument that Nick was part of an international drug smuggling organ ization. The defense argued that Nick had been set up as an "unsuspecting mule" by Mr. A, which is consistent with Nick's story from the start of this affair.

A more detailed report on the defense arguments is now being compiled, but this is difficult because nobody in the public gallery could hear them clearly. So, Nick's principle lawyer Miyake has promised to send us the portion of the defense arguments which have already been read out (the first 14 pages). They will be summarized and posted here in English as soon as we have received and translated them.

In the final analysis, what was accomplished today? Sadly, less than nothing. An hour was spent in court for a translator to read out the defense arguments in English. This was ostensively done for Nick's benefit alone, yet it appeared he could not hear what was being said. The balance of the arguments will be read out in two months (not next month, as the translator is busy). This keeps Nick in detention an extra two months, and for what purpose? Could the defense arguments not be made available to him in written form, that he might read them in his cell? He is in solitary confinement, he has few distractions and a lot of time.

No, sadly, that is not the way the Japanese legal system operates.

Please address your letters to:
Nichols John Baker, Tokyo Detention centre 1-35-1A Kosuge, Kaksushika-Ku Tokyo 124-0001 Japan

Please sign petiton at: www.justicefornickbaker.org