Judgment in Sagamihara Care Killings Trial to be given on March 16th

Written with Extracts translated from Yahoo! Japan

March 15th 2020

On March 16, 2020, the judgment on the Sagamihara Disability Killing Case will be given. It was a turbulent trial to the end, with two judges resigning after its conclusion. The defendant Uematsu has stated that he will not appeal the death sentence, so the sentence may be fixed and the Sagamihara case may be ended.

However, many have argued that the defendant’s liability is indispute and that the nature of the case has not been fully elucidated. It seems that the issues of discrimination against persons with disabilities in the background, how to establish facilities for persons with disabilities, and how the defendant Uematsu  came to such an ideas regarding the people wuth disabilities did not come up to the hearing.

Speaking to the The Asahi Shimbun, Representative Eiko Kimura of the Reiwa Shinsengumi said of the trial:

“In the trial, the defendant said, “People who cannot communicate can be social annoyance,” “Severely disabled people are taking money and time…I couldn’t concentrate on the trial because his words touched my heart…The staff of the facility continued to say the same thing. Doesn’t it make sense to just be alive or go out to society? The fear that I might have been killed still afflicts me.”