Japanese Attempted Murder Victim Demands Statute of Limitations Removal

Nagoya, Sept. 7 (Jiji Press)–A victim of attempted murder in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in 2002 and his wife are advocating for the removal of the statute of limitations on such crimes. The country abolished the statute of limitations for heinous crimes such as murder through law amendments in 2010. Still, the revisions do not cover attempted murder. “Would it have been better if I had died?” said Yoshitaka Yasuda, 61, who was left severely disabled in the 2002 case. The incident occurred on Nov. 18, 2002, at the parking lot of a pachinko parlor in the city. Two men shot two security guards who came to collect money, took four bags containing about 8.7 million yen in sales money and fled. Yasuda was shot in the neck and leg and stabbed in the side. Although he survived, he has been using a wheelchair due to quadriplegia caused by a cervical spinal cord injury. His wife, Izumi, 57, assists him with daily activities such as bathing and toileting. He has been hospitalized for a skin disease after losing his ability to sweat while often experiencing severe hand pain and difficulty breathing. “My physical condition is getting worse every year,” he said. The Aichi Prefectural Police Department investigated the case but failed to identify suspects, and the statute of limitations expired in November 2017. A police officer had told Yasuda at the time of the 2010 amendments that the statute of limitations for his case would be abolished. In 2016, however, Yasuda received a message offering to return the evidence of his case because the statute of limitations was due to expire in one year. He was shocked to learn that his case was not covered by the amendments. The prefectural police admitted making the initial erroneous explanation and apologized, but explained that there was a statute of limitations because he was not killed and that there was nothing that the police can do. At the time of the 2010 amendments, parliament adopted a supplementary resolution calling on the government to consider how to punish crimes other than those that caused the death of people, including the handling of the statute of limitations. Sixteen years later, however, no concrete talks have taken place to expand the scope of the abolition of the statute of limitations. Izumi has started seeking the abolition of the statute of limitations for attempted murder cases leaving victims with serious disabilities, as she is not happy about the current system that distinguishes between cases where victims have been dead and those where they are alive. She has submitted a petition to parliament since 2017. It continues to be treated as pending review, but she said: “I can’t give up. It’s a small voice, but I want to deliver it to the central government.” In 2009, a hit-and-run incident in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, left an elementary school student dead. Later, the Saitama prefectural assembly adopted a written opinion in 2022 calling on the central government to abolish the statute of limitations for fatal hit-and-run cases at the request of bereaved family members. After learning about this move, Izumi asked the Aichi prefectural assembly to adopt a similar opinion. Initially, this was not taken seriously, but the opinion was unanimously adopted last year, spurred by news reports about her campaign by local media. In March this year, “Sora no Kai,” a group of bereaved families of murder victims, announced plans to appeal to the central government to abolish the statute of limitations for attempted murder and fatal hit-and-run cases. “The ideal society is one that does not benefit fugitives,” Izumi said. “I hope there will be fewer people like us who feel frustrated by the statute of limitations.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]