Japan’s Top Court Endorses Detention of KyoAni Arson Attack Suspect

From Jiji

June 5 2020

Content has been altered to withhold the suspect’s name

TOKYO & KYOTO–The Supreme Court on Friday backed a district court’s approval of the detention of a severely injured suspect for the deadly arson attack last year at a studio of Kyoto Animation Co., also known as KyoAni by anime fans.

The top court’s Third Petty Bench, under the presidency of Justice Katsuya Uga, dismissed a lawyer’s special appeal against Kyoto District Court’s decision to allow public investigators to detain the suspect until Friday.

On the same day, the Kyoto court approved an extension of his detention until June 15.

The Kyoto prefectural police served an arrest warrant on the suspect on May 27 on charges of setting fire to the No. 1 studio of the anime production company in the western Japan city of Kyoto and murdering 36 people there, judging that the suspect, who suffered severe burns himself in the arson attack, had recovered enough to withstand detention.

Kyoto District Court, in rejecting the lawyer’s quasi-appeal against its approval of the suspect’s detention through Friday, said there are fears that the suspect may run away or destroy evidence of his crime through the help of visitors, as his condition is improving.