The Sagamihara case was an extremely unreasonable crime based on prejudice and discrimination against disabled persons. The latest court sentencing had no other choice but to impose the death penalty, given the seriousness of the incident in which the defendant had taken many people's precious lives.
The deadly stabbing incident took place in Sagamihara in July 2016 at Tsukui Yamayuri-en, a welfare facility for mentally disabled persons. In the lay judge trial, the Yokohama District Court pronounced the death sentence for the defendant, Satoshi Uematsu, a former employee at the facility. In the incident, 19 residents at the facility were killed, with 26 persons seriously or lightly injured, including facility employees.
"The defendant killed or wounded, one after another, facility residents who would have found it difficult to call for help or resist. It was a premeditated crime that had been committed through an intensely murderous intent, and its vicious nature was extreme," the court said. The sentence had every reason to point a severe finger at Uematsu.
During the trial, the defendant admitted to the charges against him and repeated his discriminatory assertions by making such remarks as, "Seriously disabled persons who cannot communicate with others should be euthanized" and "I did what was useful for society."
The defense insisted that the defendant be found not guilty, stating that he had been in a state of mental incapacity at the time of the crime under the influence of cannabis abuse. However, the sentencing acknowledged that the defendant had been "perfectly competent to bear criminal responsibility," citing such facts as that he had been aware of the illegality of his conduct. The sentence can be described as reasonable.
It was regrettable that the background of the case had not been sufficiently clarified through the trial.
The point of contention in the trial was focused on whether the defendant should be held criminally responsible. Hearings in the trial centered on how the results of psychiatric tests conducted on him should be assessed. There were only a limited exchange of arguments regarding his early life and the actualities of his work at Yamayuri-en.
How did the defendant increasingly form a distorted opinion about the disabled while working at the facility? It is difficult to say that the case sufficiently examined this to answer the question held by many people, including the victims' families.
Most of the victims were kept anonymous during hearings in the trial. This measure was taken in consideration of people on the victims' side who were concerned that they might be exposed to prejudice. One victim's family member said: "The eyes of those around disabled people are still cold. I do not want [the victim] to be identified."
It is fresh in our memory that, after the stabbing incident, many messages in favor of the defendant's self-centered assertions were posted on the internet. The victims have been kept anonymous out of fear of prejudice against them, despite there being no fault on their part. Society needs to take this reality seriously.
In April 2016, the Law for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities was put in force. A report compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry after the stabbing incident pointed out the importance of promoting education that respects the personality and individuality of disabled persons while also calling for making community-based efforts to support them.
Efforts must be made to dispel a sense of discrimination that lies in society so that an incident similar to the Sagamihara case will never happen again.
-- The original Japanese article appeared in The Yomiuri Shimbun on March 17, 2020.
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