US base employee must be tried in Japanese court: Iwakuni residents

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

US base employee must be tried in Japanese court: Iwakuni residents

A citizens’ group opposing the transfer of the U.S. carrier-borne aircraft to the U.S. Iwakuni Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture petitioned the Iwakuni City mayor to urge the national government to revise the Japan-U.S. Status Forces of Agreement (SOFA).

This petition was made because the U.S. forces insist that it has the right to exercise primary jurisdiction over the September 7 car accident committed by a civilian employee of the U.S. Iwakuni base.

The Iwakuni Police on September 7 arrested Jamie M. Wallace, a civilian attached to the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station, for allegedly killing a 66-year-old Japanese man in a car accident.

The petition demands that the suspect should be punished according to relevant Japanese laws, and that the Japan-U.S. SOFA should be revised to one in which Japan has the primary jurisdiction over crimes and accidents committed by U.S. servicemen and attached civilian personnel.

- Akahata, September 15, 2010