In a civil trial in which the former president of a real estate company who was arrested and charged in an embezzlement case investigated by the Osaka District Public Prosecutors' Special Investigation Division and acquitted in a criminal trial claimed that the interrogation by the Special Investigation Division was an illegal investigation such as threatening and seeking compensation from the government, the Osaka District Court ordered the government to submit as evidence some of the audio and video recordings of the interrogation.
Shinobu Yamagishi, 4, the former president of an Osaka real estate company who was arrested and charged by the Osaka District Public Prosecutors' Special Investigation Division four years ago in an embezzlement case involving a land transaction involving a school corporation and acquitted in a trial, filed a civil lawsuit in March last year demanding compensation from the government, alleging that the prosecutors of the Special Investigation Department at the time conducted illegal investigations such as threatening to interrogate those involved.
At the trial, Yamagishi argued that it was necessary to confirm the audio and video recordings of the interrogation of the Special Investigation Division in order to clarify the illegality of the investigation, and on the 60th, the Osaka District Court ordered the government to submit as evidence approximately 3 hours of video footage of Yamagishi's interrogation of his former subordinates.
The video recorded the prosecutor knocking on his desk, and the court ruled that "the tone and actions together can frighten former subordinates and affect their statements, and that audio and video recordings are the most appropriate evidence that records things that cannot be expressed in language."
According to Mr. Yamagishi's lawyer, it is unusual for a civil court to be ordered to submit video of an interrogation.
Mr. Yamagishi "Interrogation video should be released in court"
At the press conference, Mr. Yamagishi said, "I take today's results for granted, and I would like the Special Investigation Department to accept what they have done and submit audio and video recordings."
In the future, we would like to ask the court to release and examine the video ordered to be submitted in court.