A trial of prime leaders of a yakuza gangster group over 4 circumstances involving homicide and assault has begun at a excessive courtroom within the western Japanese prefecture of Fukuoka.
The head of the Kudo-kai group pleaded not responsible in the entire circumstances, whereas a deputy chief admitted involvement in two of them.
Nomura Satoru, the pinnacle of the infamous crime syndicate primarily based within the metropolis of Kitakyushu, and Tanoue Fumio, its second-in-command, appeared on the Fukuoka High Court on Wednesday.
The two are charged with homicide and different crimes in reference to the 4 violent incidents that came about between 1998 and 2014.
In one of many circumstances, a former chief of a fisheries cooperative was shot useless.
In August 2021, a decrease courtroom sentenced Nomura to dying for his involvement within the 4 circumstances as a mastermind. The courtroom additionally handed down a life sentence to Tanoue.
At the beginning of the trial on Wednesday, the protection pleaded not responsible for Nomura, denying that he was concerned. It stated the decrease courtroom ruling was handed down with out direct proof and lacked objectivity.
For Tanoue, the protection admitted involvement in two of the circumstances — assaults on a nurse and a dentist — saying he ordered the assaults at his personal discretion.
Prosecutors known as the decrease courtroom ruling rational, smart and in step with the gangster group’s organizational construction.
They stated Tanoue modified his earlier statements and admitted to involvement to guard Nomura from legal legal responsibility.