Okinawa police to arrest U.S. Marine officer

Okinawa Prefectural Police Gushikawa Station on December 3 issued an arrest warrant for a U.S. Marine major suspected of attempting to rape a woman.

U.S. Marine major Michael J. Brown on November 2 allegedly tried to rape a women in a car, but ran away after she furiously resisted.

The police asked the U.S. forces to hand over the suspect.

After the rape incident of a 12-year old Okinawan girl by three U.S. Marines in 1995, the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement got criticized for failing to require the U.S. forces to hand over criminal suspects to Japanese police.

Therefore, Japan and the U.S. in October 1995 agreed that the U.S. military will hand over suspects to Japan if they committed serious crimes.

According to the Okinawa Prefectural Police, no U.S. Marine officer second lieutenant and above has been arrested in Okinawa in the past 10 years. (end)