CALL4 Begins Support for Lawsuit Questioning Judges' Responsibility in the Okawara Chemical Machine Case

Japan's first (※1) web platform specializing in public lawsuit support, CALL4 (operated by Certified NPO CALL4, co-represented by Taiki Taniguchi and Orie Maruyama), will begin supporting the lawsuit titled "Questioning the Responsibility of Judges in the Okawara Chemical Machine Case" starting March 26, 2026.

Mr. Shizuo Aishima, a former advisor who was unjustly arrested and detained in the Okawara Chemical Machine case, was deprived of his freedom for approximately 11 months and passed away without being granted bail. Although the illegality of the investigative authorities was later acknowledged, the judges who issued the arrest and detention warrants and continuously denied bail to Mr. Aishima are responsible. This lawsuit aims to restore the rule of law to Japan's criminal justice system and put an end to "hostage justice" by questioning the illegality of the decisions made by the 37 judges involved.

※1 According to a self-conducted survey including lawyers' opinions in September 2019, as the "first web support platform specializing in public lawsuit support" in Japan.

### Details of the Lawsuit Mr. Shizuo Aishima, an executive of Okawara Kakohki Co., Ltd., was arrested for violating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, allegedly for exporting spray dryers (machines that produce powder from liquid) without permission from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. As a result, it has already been established in a national compensation lawsuit against the investigative authorities that Mr. Aishima and others were innocent, and these charges were groundless.

In that lawsuit, the investigative authorities' requests for arrest warrants, detention warrants, and public prosecution were recognized as illegal. However, the legal responsibility of the judges was not pursued.

Mr. Aishima was arrested on March 11, 2020, and his detention began on March 13.

His defense counsel filed a quasi-kokoku appeal against the detention and repeatedly applied for bail after indictment. However, the judges consistently denied bail, continuously ruling that there was a reasonable suspicion of a crime and that Mr. Aishima might conceal evidence or flee.

In October of that year, Mr. Aishima was diagnosed with stomach cancer. His defense counsel immediately requested bail, citing the need for a thorough examination. However, the judges denied bail, ruling that even with stomach cancer, Mr. Aishima might conceal evidence or flee.

Ultimately, Mr. Aishima was never granted bail until his death on February 7, 2021.

This lawsuit questions the responsibility of judges who, while making independent decisions according to their conscience, failed to curb the inappropriate actions of investigative authorities and continued to endorse their demands.

This lawsuit is a claim for damages against the state, asserting that all decisions made by a total of 37 judges—those who issued the arrest warrant for Mr. Shizuo Aishima, those who issued the detention warrant, and those who denied bail requests—were illegal.

### Points of Contention in This Lawsuit

**Is the State Liable for Damages Regarding Judges' Decisions?**

The central issue in this lawsuit is whether the state bears liability for damages concerning the judges' decisions regarding arrest, detention, and denial of bail. The plaintiffs argue that these decisions were illegal for the following reasons:

1. **In the first place, there was no suspicion of a crime.**

In the Okawara Chemical Machine case, the definition of "sterilization" was contested. However, there were no official documents to support the interpretation of "sterilization" adopted by the investigative authorities. In such a situation, the suspicion that Mr. Aishima committed a crime.