The Fukuoka district against the top of the Kudo-kai, who has been accused of murder and other crimes in a case in which a total of four citizens were killed or injured by attacking a total of four citizens with a pistol or knife. The court will hand down the judgment on the 24th.


While the prosecution seeks the death penalty, the top denies involvement and pleads not guilty, and the court's decision is watched.

From 1998 to 2014, the Specified Danger Designated Boryokudan "Kudokai" shot dead the former union leader of the fishery cooperative in Kitakyushu City and the surrounding area, and attacked three former police officers and nurses with pistols and cutlery. Incidents are happening one after another.



The police embarked on a thorough crackdown called "operation to destroy" and arrested Satoru Nomura (74), the head of the Kudo-kai and the president, in 2014.



The prosecutor's office has been charged with murder and other charges for instructing the gangsters under his control in a series of cases, and the trial has been held in the Fukuoka District Court since then.



At the trial, the prosecution emphasized that the defendant was an absolute presence at the Kudokai, "he is the mastermind of organized crimes targeting the general public," while there was no direct evidence of instructions to the actors. He insisted that he was sentenced to death.



In response, the defendant denied involvement and pleaded not guilty.



The ruling will be handed down from 10 am, and it will be interesting to see how the court decides on top involvement in a series of community-shaking cases.

4 incidents that hit citizens

Nomura and his colleagues have been charged with being involved in four murders and attempted murders aimed at citizens by the Kudokai.



The first case was in 1998, 23 years ago, when a former union leader of a fishery cooperative was shot and killed in a downtown area of ​​Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu.

It is believed that the background is the trouble over the interests in public works.



The second is the case in 2012 when a former police inspector of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, who had been in charge of investigating the Kudokai for many years, was shot in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyushu City on his way to work, causing serious injuries to his waist and thighs.

The former inspector was one of the few police officers who could talk to Nomura and other Kudo-kai executives on an equal footing.



The third is the case in 2013 when a nurse at a cosmetic surgery clinic, where Defendant Nomura attended, was seriously injured when his face was stabbed with a knife on his way home in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka.

Prior to the incident, Nomura was allegedly complaining to the nurses about customer service and treatment.



The fourth is the 2014 dentist attack case.

A dentist working at a hospital in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu was stabbed in the chest and abdomen when he went to work and was seriously injured.

The victim was the grandson of a former union leader of the fishery cooperative who was killed in the first incident.



In each case, Kudo-kai-affiliated gangsters were convicted as actors, and three of these cases were found to be "crimes under the command of Defendant Nomura."

History of the trial

Nomura's trial began in October.



Originally it was a case subject to lay judge trial, but it will be tried only by the judge as "there is a risk of harm to the judge", and at the request of the court, a large number of police officers strictly guard Was taken.



At the first trial, Defendant Nomura said, "I am not guilty of all four cases," denying involvement and showing a full-fledged dispute.



The biggest issue was "whether there was a top instruction" from the actors, the gangsters.



The prosecution testified in court that Kudo-kai's gangsters were "God for me" to show that Nomura was an "absolute existence" in the organization and that a series of cases could not occur without his instructions. I pulled out.



He also claimed that Nomura had contact with the victims in all cases and had the motive and background to cause the case.



In response to the prosecution trying to prove its involvement by accumulating such indirect evidence, the defense insisted that it was "an unfounded speculation that ignored the evidence," and Nomura and his colleagues also knew the case by executives and members. He claimed that it happened where he wasn't.



The gangsters, who were alleged to be the actors, also appeared in court, but did not give any testimony to acknowledge the instructions from the top management.



A total of 91 witnesses appeared in the 62 trials in one year and five months, and the trial ended in March. We have reached the judgment.

"Kudokai" and Fukuoka Prefectural Police "Operation to destroy"

The Kudo-kai is the largest gangster in Kyushu, and at its peak in 2008, it had about 730 members.



In Kitakyushu City, which is our base, not only incidents between gangsters but also attacks targeting citizens have occurred one after another.



<Successive incidents> In 1998,


23 years ago, a former union leader of a fishery cooperative was shot and killed in a downtown area of ​​Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu. It is believed that the background is the trouble over the interests in public works.



In 2003, a grenade was thrown into a club in a downtown area run by a man who was the center of the movement to expel gangsters, and 13 employees and others were seriously injured.



In 2011, an officer of a construction company who was calling on industry insiders to refuse to provide profits to the gangsters was shot dead.



In 2012, a former police inspector of the Fukuoka Prefectural Police, who had been in charge of investigating the Kudo-kai for many years, was shot and seriously injured. There was also an incident where a knife was used to cut it.



<To be the first "Specified Danger Designated Boryokudan" in Japan> The


Fukuoka Prefectural Public Safety Commission has decided to attack critical opponents even by the general public in 2012, based on the revised Boryokudan Countermeasures Law that was just enforced. Was designated as a "Specified Danger Designated Boryokudan" for the first time in Japan.



The Fukuoka Prefectural Police embarked on a thorough crackdown called "Operation to destroy" and arrested the top defendant Satoru Nomura in 2014.



<The organization is weakening> The


police continued to crack down on it, arresting 435 members in the seven years until last year, and the number of Kudo-kai members decreased to less than one-third of the peak, at the end of last year. At that time, there are about 220 people.



In addition, the headquarters office in Kitakyushu City has been dismantled, and the Kudokai is weakening in terms of funding and structure.



<Voice worried about activities to eliminate gangsters and retaliation> In


Kitakyushu City, the movement to participate in activities to eliminate gangsters has spread among citizens and businesses in response to the "catastrophic operation" against the Kudokai, but worried about retaliation. There are still many voices that do.



Defendant Nomura has been charged with murder and other charges, and the prosecution is seeking the death penalty in court.



The court's decision is drawing attention because this decision marks a major milestone in the "destructive operation" against the Kudo-kai, which has been promoted by the police and the prosecution.