Nick Baker

On April 13, 2002, two young men got off a plane at Japan's Narita airport, just a few months before the start of the World Cup football championships. They had just left Brussels National Airport in Belgium, and passed through London's Heathrow Airport along the way.

One of the men made it past Japanese customs without any difficulty, and he walked out of the airport, leaving the country only weeks later. The other, 31-year-old Nick Baker, was detained, held in solitary confinement for ten months, charged with possession of illegal drugs, and then convicted in a Japanese court to 14 years in prison.

Airport security found 41,120 tablets of the narcotic Ecstasy and 992.5 grams of cocaine hidden in the false bottom of the suitcase Baker was carrying. Baker, a husband and a father, maintained he had been duped by his traveling companion, WHO CANNOT BE NAMED FOR LEGAL REASONS. He soon found himself involved in a court battle his family say he had no chance of winning because of what they call Japan's highly questionable justice system.

"No one can do anything," said Baker's mother Iris in an interview with The Foreigner. "It's a really hard battle to get justice for anyone in this terrible country."

The defense's argument
Baker's family and supporters have set up a website on his behalf that tells his side of the story. Baker had met his travel companion two years earlier, and the two had become friends. When the World Cup was coming up in Japan and Korea, Baker's companion suggested he and Baker take some time off and go take in some games.

Baker, a huge football fan, was eager to go, but the championships coincided with the busiest months of his fencing business, and initially the trip was cancelled. Baker's companion then suggested they leave before the June start, and at least tour Japan a bit, to take in some of the sites.

On the plane, Baker had a few too many drinks, and ended up a little disorientated after landing. He found his co-traveller who handed him his own luggage at the baggage claim, saying he would find Baker's luggage and meet up with him at the line up at customs. He never did meet up with Baker.

Baker, a native of Gloucestershire, had protested his innocence at the customs desk, Baker's defense lawyer, Sunji Miyake says there was probably a misinterpretation of what Baker said by the customs official who took his statement, and who later testified at Baker's trial. He didn't have the aid of a qualified Japanese translator, and Miyake has called into question his actual English language ability.

"From the beginning of the arrest on April 13, Nick has consistently denied his charge," said Miyake. "However, there exist some confessions in his statement reports made by the police and prosecution. The only presumable reason for this is because the interpreter in charge of his interrogation made mistakes or misunderstood what Nick had explained."
Detainment

There is a system in Japan called Daiyo kangoku, which allows detention in facilities under police management, generally a police station where detainees also undergo interrogation. Amnesty International says these facilities are used as a substitute for detention centers, and are not administered by police. In a 1997 report, Amnesty International stated this system "fails to ensure adequate separation between officials in charge of the detention of suspects, and those in charge of their interrogation".

Suspects in Japan can be held in these detention facilities for up to 23 days, with the possibility of interrogation during their stay. AI says detainees are often questioned for long periods of time, and are sometimes beaten.

Baker was held in one of these facilities for the full 23 days where his family says he was denied access to a lawyer, a telephone, or any contact with the outside world, save for a brief visit from a member of the British consul. It's said Baker was forced to sign a confession written in Japanese that he didn't understand, though he later contested the confession.

Miyake stated that since there was no video or audio recording of the interrogations done by the police, there was no way to verify that they didn't falsify and mistranslate what Baker said in his statement. In copies of the Japanese courts and defense lawyer's reports acquired by The Foreigner - Japan, Miyake called into question the 'leading nature' of the questions asked by Baker's interrogators, as well as the misleading answers written down.

For example, the defendant was asked to reply to the following question: Do you remember anything unusual about the suitcase? In reply, Baker was said to have referred to a scene when he had inquired of his companion, while he was carrying the suitcase, whether he had a backache. The written document however seemed to say that Baker told him to confirm "whether the suitcase was alright."

After spending 25 days in Narita for interrogation, he was moved to Chiba prefecture, and placed in solitary confinement for ten months. His defense lawyer says he's currently staying in a mixed facility.

The trial and its effect
His family's biggest concern was the trial in which he was convicted. Baker's co-traveller was apparently caught a few months later in Belgium trying to use other people as drug carriers, but this news was never allowed into evidence during the trial. Other requested information which was official in nature was deemed inadmissible by the judge.

Mrs. Baker said the prosecution would not allow any evidence into court that would help her son. "Nick's lawyer asked me to get a copy of his earnings and his partner's earnings, so I phoned the Inland Revenue and told them the story. They sent the documents and I sent them to Japan," she said. "These documents were stamped by the British Embassy as authentic, a true record, but the prosecutor would not accept them. He said they could be forgeries."

When the verdict and his 14 year sentence came down on June 12 of this year, Baker did not take it at all well. "He was upset and devastated," said Miyake, "Totally devastated. But he is willing to have an appeal trial, and is willing to fight again. I believe his mental condition is fine, but he misses his family so much."

Miyake says though he doesn't believe foreigners are treated any different in the Japanese system than native Japanese, he says there is room for error, especially in translation from airport customs, as well as the court itself.

"Because interpretation problems are difficult to prove and to be understood by Japanese courts, it is not unfair to say that foreign defendants are more likely misunderstood by courts than Japanese citizens.

"I believe he has a very big chance for an acquittal verdict in the appeal. There is lots of unreasonable evidence which may work to his being guilty. This is my own opinion."
His mother isn't as rosy in her description of her son's condition. "He's not good at all. He shakes all the time and has been on suicide watch. Every day he loses a little more hope of a fair trial."

She says her son's incarceration has taken its toll on his wife Beverley, their son George, and his family. "His partner struggles to get through this on her own and I do not have a life anymore. Every day I fight for Nick. It's very hard for me as a mum. I hate to think each day what he is going through. Last year he had frost bite and I fear for him every day."

His lawyer Miyake and mother both say Baker has health problems now because of his incarceration. "There's a concrete floor, which he has to sit on cross legged all day," said his mother. "Beds are mattresses on the floor, with no heating. Nick had broken a finger before he went, which had been mended but it re-broke with frostbite and has now reset itself deformed. "He also has three damaged vertebrae, bleeding gums and mouth ulcers. He always had healthy teeth."

She says that he will most likely be returned to solitary if the appeal fails, but the process won't end there. If the appeal fails, he can re-appeal to the Japanese Supreme Court. If it fails again, he can apply for extradition in order to serve his sentence in the U.K.