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Nick Baker

Nick Baker is a British professional chef, raised in Gloucestershire in the United Kingdom. He was arrested in Japan on April 13 2002 at the age of 32, for allegedly violating the Narcotic and Psychotropic Drug Control Law and Customs Law when contraband was found in false compartments of a suitcase upon his arrival at Narita Airport near Tokyo. Baker has consistantly claimed that he was set up by his travelling companion, James Prunier, whom he became friendly with after meeting 2-3 years previously at a local football club. Baker claimed that when he got to the baggage carousel, Prunier, who had gone through immigration first, told him that Baker's bag had come and gone. Prunier, who was already holding his own suitcase, told Baker to take it and get in the customs line while he waited for Baker's bag, whereupon he would join him in the queue. Prunier however joined a different queue in possession on Baker's blue sports bag. Upon reaching inspection, the grey Delsey suitcase Baker was holding for Prunier was found to contain 41,120 ecstasy tablets together with 992.5 grams of cocaine, the largest ever walk-through seizure of ecstasy at Narita Airport at that time. After Baker's arrest, Prunier was placed under surveillance by the Japanese police, and cutting short his planned two-week stay, was freely allowed to leave the country two days later without questioning. He was subsequently arrested in Belgium some three months later for alledgedly smuggling drugs along with three other young British people.

Chiba District Court trial

The Prosecution contended that Baker's statements showed he was involved with a drug smuggling ring, that he had changed his story several times, that he had a financial incentive to commit the crime, and that he was in posession of the drugs. The defence argued that all of Baker's signed statements used against him in court were written only in Japanese, a language he does not speak or read. They argued that inconsistencies in his story arose because Baker's thick Gloucestershire accent was misinterpreted by poorly-qualified interpreters. They argued that Baker was was coerced into signing statements he was told incriminated Prunier when he was actually incriminating himself. They asked for Prunier's involvement in the Belgian case (the so-called "Belgian Evidence") to be submitted into evidence. They submitted tax returns to show that Baker had an above-average income and therefore no reason to engage in a risky drug smuggling venture. District Court Presiding Judge Kenji Kadoya refused to admit the Belgian evidence and refused to enter Baker's tax returns as evidence.

In June 2003, Baker was sentenced by the Chiba District Court to 14 years in prison with forced labour and a Yen 5,000,000- fine.

The Tokyo High Court Appeal

The High Court Appeal began March 23, 2004 and ended on October 27, 2005, during which time the court convened 11 times for a total of around 18 hours. During the course of the trial the prosecutor, the court-appointed translator and one of the judges was changed (Japan does not have a jury system, each trial is overseen by three judges).

In the appeal, the defence argued that there was collusion between prosecutors and customs investigation officers regarding the initial customs officers report, particuarly as it related to the wherabouts of the key to the case. They also argued that Baker's statements showed coercion by investigators and that Baker's statements had been incorrectly interpreted and inaccurately translated. The defense also argued that the "Belgian Evidence" and Baker's tax returns should have been admitted in the lower court. The defense submitted testimony from a linguistics professor, showing gross discrepencies in the Chiba district court trials translation and further expert testimony from a photographic expert purportedly showing the key zipped up inside a pouch in the suitcase - the implication being that Baker could not have thrown the key into the case according to the customs officers' testimony.

On October 27 2005, the presiding judge upheld the guilty verdict, ruling that Baker was aware of the contents of the case. However, the judge reduced the sentence from 14 years to 11 years noting that although Baker had not shown remorse "he does not seem to be the mastermind, and his parents have been worried about him". Baker's fine was also reduced from Yen 5,000,000- (approx. £24,392) to Yen 3,000,000- (approx. £14,635). Baker was awarded time served of 1,172 days against the sentence, excluding a percentage of time held in remand during the district court trial. His work rate was raised from Yen 10,000 to Yen 20,000 (approx. £97.58) per day. A daily "work rate" is the sum deducted from his fine, if it remains unpaid. In Baker's case, he will have 150 days added to his sentence if the fine is not paid.

In November 2005 Baker decided not to appeal to Japan's Supreme Court and was transferred to Fuchu Prison to begin serving his sentence. Baker will be eligible to transfer to a U.K. prison after one third of his sentence has been completed in Japan.

Justice for Nick Baker Campaign

In the summer of 2003, soon after the China District Court verdict, Baker's mother Iris launched an awareness campaign and website Justice For Nick Baker and called on concerned people to contact the Japanese and British embassies in their countries to demand fair and just treatment for Baker and other detainees in Japan. The campaign did not argue on the question of guilt or innocence, rather it asserted that Baker had not received a fair trial at the Chiba District Court, and strove to focus international attention on the upcoming High Court appeal. The campaign focused on three main issues:

1. Baker's treatment from the time of his arrest, specifically that he had been interrogated for 23 days, shackled to a chair, without counsel present; and called for the enshrinement of a detainee's right to legal council.
2. That he had been made to sign confessions in a language he did not understand; and called for reform allowing the tape-recording of interrogations and for licensing of court and police interpreters and translators.
3. Drew attention to Japan's 99.97% conviction rate, noting that Presiding Judge Kenji Kadoya had never found a defendant "not guilty" in his more than 10 years on the bench.

A petition signed by more than 5,000 people was presented by Iris Baker and The Baroness Sarah Ludford, Member of European Parliament, to Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street. Iris Baker later presented the petition to the Tokyo High Court.

During the appeal, the website posted visitor logs which showed regular monitoring by the Japanese Ministry of Justice, and administrators claimed they received a warning from the High Court (delivered by e-mail via Baker's lawyer Shunji Miyake) demanding that criticism of the court interpreter be removed from the site.

Due to the campaign major newspapers and television in the UK and English media in Japan reported on the case, although it was largely ignored by the Japanese-language media.

Controversy regarding Baker's account and the support group

When it was revealed on Baker's site that Baker had made a previous trip to Japan two months before his arrest, Mark Devlin, publisher of Metropolis, the largest circulation English magazine in Japan, and Japan Today, Japan's largest English Internet news and information portal, claimed that the support group was not being honest in its presentation of facts to the public. Devlin, who was originally a supporter of the case, was critical of Iris Baker and the support group in an editorial he wrote in a September, 2004 issue of his magazine.

During the appeal process, Baker's defence documents were released on Baker's support site. The documents showed that when Baker and Prunier had been travelling in Europe, Prunier had told Baker that he owed two Israelis money and had been given a suitcase to bring back sex pills for them from Japan. The statements also revealed that the Israelis threatened Baker after check-in at the airport, threatening to kill members of his family.

Devlin claimed that even though Iris Baker had attended the trial and had access to the Chiba District Court trial documents, she denied that Baker was involved with the Israeli Mafia, discounting it as a "rumour". The support group also claimed that the Belgian dupes had been set free, when they had actually been convicted. They claimed Prunier was a professional con-man without any supporting evidence.

During the appeal, Prunier remained in the UK awaiting trial in Belgium. In an interview in early 2004 Prunier said he did not set-up Baker. In August 2004, Prunier, an unstable cocaine and alcohol addict, was found dead on a railway track in Gloucester. An inquest returned a suicide verdict.

In November 2004, after Devlin had sent his analysis of the case to other media and supporters, Iris Baker branded him a spammer and also threatened to file a libel action against him. Devlin has said that Iris Baker's claims are "a ludicrous diversion from inconsistencies of Baker's account and the cover-up activities of the support group". To date, no suit has been filed.

Near the end of the appeal process, Baker's supporters' attempt to enlist the support of his MP, David Drew of Stroud, backfired when the MP said his findings did not tally with the account on Baker's website. When asked to clarify the situation by releasing the court documents from the Chiba District Court trial, Iris Baker refused to do so, saying it would be a waste of resources to translate the documents. However, it was revealed in November 2005 that at the time of the Chiba District Court trial the British Embassy had translated the original court documents into English for the family at no cost.

The Japanese justice system system and the 99.97% conviction rate

According to J. Mark Ramseyer of Harvard Law School and Eric B. Rasmusen of Indiana University, ("Why Is the Japanese Conviction Rate So High?"), the conviction rate in Japan is high because of three factors:

Japanese prosecutors have limited resources and only pick the cases that are assured success
Judges look down on prosecutors who have not prepared their cases well
The overall incarceration level in Japan is low. At midyear 2003, 718 out of every 100,000 Americans were behind bars. In Japan the number is just 54, less than a tenth the US rate.

A report by Washington University in St. Lewis compares conviction rates between the US and Japan: In U.S. federal courts, prosecutors win 85% of all criminal cases with a 42% arrest/prosecution ratio. In Japan, in 1995 prosecutors filed charges against just 17.5% arrests. It is much less likely for a person to be arrested in Japan and if they are, it is much less likely that they will go to jail than in the U.S. If a person is arrested in the U.S. they are more than twice as likely to go to jail than in Japan (37% vs. 17% of arrests).

Unlike the UK and US, where defendents will almost always try to plead "not guilty" in the hope that they will find a sympathetic jury or get off on a technicality, in Japan prosecutors reduce defendents' sentences in exchange their admission of guilt.

The appeal court did not have the authority to change items like the 23-day detention period, or prison conditions -- appeal courts can only look at the evidence from the original trial.

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ==Controversy regarding Baker's account and the support group==
-In response to questions on the Baker site regarding Baker's previous trip to Japan two months before his arrest, Mark Devlin, publisher of a Japan-based English language free magazine, and an Internet news and information portal, claimed that the support group was not being honest in its presentation of facts to the public. Devlin, who was originally a supporter of the case was critical of Iris Baker and the support group in an editorial he wrote in a September, 2004 issue of his magazine.
+When it was revealed on Baker's site that Baker had made a previous trip to Japan two months before his arrest, Mark Devlin, publisher of Metropolis, the largest circulation English magazine in Japan, and Japan Today, Japan's largest English Internet news and information portal, claimed that the support group was not being honest in its presentation of facts to the public. Devlin, who was originally a supporter of the case, was critical of Iris Baker and the support group in an editorial he wrote in a September, 2004 issue of his magazine.
-During the appeal process, Baker's defence documents were released on Baker's support site. The documents showed that when Baker and Prunier had been travelling in Europe, Prunier had told Baker that he owed two Israelis money and was being sent to Japan to collect something for them. The statements also revealed that the Israelis threatened Baker after check-in at the airport, threatening to kill members of his family.
+During the appeal process, Baker's defence documents were released on Baker's support site. The documents showed that when Baker and Prunier had been travelling in Europe, Prunier had told Baker that he owed two Israelis money and had been given a suitcase to bring back sex pills for them from Japan. The statements also revealed that the Israelis threatened Baker after check-in at the airport, threatening to kill members of his family.
 Devlin claimed that even though Iris Baker had attended the trial and had access to the Chiba District Court trial documents, she denied that Baker was involved with the Israeli [[Mafia]], discounting it as a "rumour". The support group also claimed that the Belgian dupes had been set free, when they had actually been convicted. They claimed Prunier was a professional con-man without any supporting evidence.
@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 The appeal court did not have the authority to change items like the 23-day detention period, or prison conditions -- appeal courts can only look at the evidence from the original trial.
-==Reactions to the Appeal Verdict and Baker's abandonment of further appeal==
-'''British Lawyer and Director General of UK charity group Fair Trials Abroad, Mr. Stephen Jakobi:-'''
-"Baker's case has in effect raised major concerns regarding the Japanese Justice System and its compliance with International law of fair trial (ICCPR) to which it is treaty bound.
-*a.. Following an arrest, police can keep a suspect in for questioning for up to 23 days, with no contact with the outside world, apart from a consular representative, and no legal support.
-*b.. The standard of interpretation is very poor and often misleading. Suspects are forced to sign documents in Japanese without translation into their own language.
-*c.. The police seem to be very reluctant to investigate any defence assertions and defence evidence is permitted to be disallowed by them or withheld.
-*d.. There is no presumption of innocence: acquittal is virtually unknown.
-It is as a result of the above that we would say that Japan is unique among all major democracies in practising systematic defiance of the international rules of Fair trial that they are treaty bound to observe. The Japanese Justice system was on trial today and it failed."
-'''Masaharu Katsuno, a Japanese national convicted, along with [[Chika Honda]], of drug smuggling in a controversial case in Australia'''
-"In Melbourne, I was treated the same way as Mr. Nick Baker. I was imprisoned for 10 and a half years after receiving an unfair trial based upon mistaken translations and prejudices. Despite the emergence of evidence indicating innocence, the door to a retrial continues to remain firmly shut. Proving your innocence after being falsely charged is a hard task. However, I will never give up in my fight to prove the charges were false.
-I pray that Mr. Baker will never give up either, I pray that both he and his supporters will continue to fight and that you will all take care of your health for this purpose."
-'''Member of the European Parliament The Baroness Sarah Ludford:-'''
-"The reduced sentence shows at least some acknowledgement of the frailty of the case against Nick, but the Court has missed an opportunity to overturn a gross miscarriage of justice. I am very disappointed indeed that he has not been acquitted. The Japanese justice system is in dire need of reform. Criminal cases have a 99% conviction rate, and all those accused are presumed guilty. Nick’s case in particular has been devoid of proper legal safeguards. There has been more than three years of tireless campaigning to try to ensure a fair trial, especially by Nick's mother Iris to whom I pay tribute. But justice has still not been done, and this is a stain on the reputation of Japan."
-'''Professor Makiko Mizuno, linguists experts at Osaka's Senrikinran University:-'''
-"I am very disappointed with the Baker judgment. I am surprised that those involved
-in trials still don't seem to understand the role of language in judicial
-procedures and the possible effects of successful or unsuccessful communication
-on the judicial procedures. Even if individual instances of misinterpretation
-are corrected in the end, it is obvious that if the interpreter does not have
-the ability to sufficiently and smoothly aid communication, the consistency and
-integrity of the statements made by suspect/defendant will be undermined. It is similarly obvious that this will have some influence over the way an opinion is
-shaped in the investigators' and judges' mind.
-It is also common knowledge among interpreters that one can't accurately interpret even if one speaks
-English unless one goes through formal training. It seems that in the
-judiciary, STEP (Eiken) grades, TOEIC scores, and Tour-Guide Certification are
-seen as sufficient benchmarks for the accuracy of interpretation. If those in
-the judiciary truly believe this, their understanding needs to change
-immediately. Simply assigning an interpreter does not mean that you have respected the human
-rights of the suspect/defendant. Respecting human rights is only possible when
-assigning an interpreter that can properly help communicate."
-'''Mark Devlin, publisher of the English-language magazine Metropolis and website Japan Today'''
-"We should be wary of relatives and support groups who promote an agenda by manipulating our willingness to believe that Japanese systems and institutions are inherently unfair. It's disturbing to see comments that back acquittal for Baker simply because he is "one of us" or deriving from the hatred some have for the Japanese justice system. However much we dislike that system, criminals should not get off the hook simply because we don't agree with it.
-Baker's supporters have tried to blame everyone for Baker's predicament: the friend, the customs officer, the translators, the judge, the media, the British Embassy, the Japanese system - everyone except Baker himself. They presented the case to the media and the public to make him appear innocent. In doing so they wasted a lot of people's hope, time, effort and money."
-'''Iris Baker, Nick's mother and outspoken critic of the Japanese judicial and penal systems:-'''
-"Judge Tao's reasoning was merely a rehash of the words of judge Kadoya at the Chiba district court, once more proving that the Japanese courts are not prepared to lose face. They would rather take an innocent man's life than admit to a mistake. Not only did Judge Tao betray Nick by allowing this charade to continue, but he also failed to take an important step forward in the eyes of the modern world. He had the chance to begin the steps to bring the Japanese justice system into the 21st century. He could have done this with honour and earned a new respect for Japan for its honest regard for human rights. This could have given a valuable legacy for future generations in Japan. My fight for justice will continue. Stay strong, son, and be proud of your innocence."
 ==News links about the case (ordered by date)==