Supreme Court nixes jail time for couple in abduction case

The Yomiuri Shimbun
October 14, 2006
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061014TDY03002.htm

The Supreme Court Thursday rescinded a prison sentence handed down by the lower courts in favor of a suspended sentence for a couple from Tochigi Prefecture who had taken their granddaughter away from her mother.

A 57-year-old senior company executive and his 56-year-old wife were charged with abduction after they took their granddaughter away from her mother, their daughter, in Sapporo in 2001. The 8-year-old girl was 3 at the time. The lower courts had given the couple 10-month prison sentences, but the Supreme Court quashed the decision and sentenced them both to 10 months in prison, suspended for three years.

Presiding Judge Chiharu Saiguchi said in handing down the ruling: "The couple had been kind to the girl and there were understandable motives behind their action. If they went to prison, it could cause more friction in the family, which would be detrimental to the girl's welfare." It is unusual for the top court to change the degree of punishment determined by lower courts. Its decision to change a prison sentence to a probationary sentence was the first in 16 years.

According to the ruling, the daughter, who was divorced, and her two children used to live with her parents. In November 2001, the daughter took her children and moved to Sapporo to live with her boyfriend, prompting the couple to take one of their grandchildren and bring her back to their home in an effort to stop the daughter from seeing her boyfriend.

The daughter took legal action to get her daughter back based on the Protection of Personal Liberty Law. In July 2002, the top court ruled that the girl should be returned to her mother, but the couple refused to comply, saying, "She doesn't want to go." The daughter filed a complaint against the couple, and they were indicted on charges of abduction.

The ruling said: "It started from a difference of opinion over the daughter's boyfriend, which should have been resolved by both sides discussing the situation. Bearing in mind the girl's welfare, there should be careful discussions on how to solve the problem."

(Oct. 14, 2006)