US airmen gets under 3 years for rape
- From: "Muslim News" <editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <submit@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 28 Mar 2002 19:53:09 -0000
In 1995 three servicemen raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl, leading to
massive protests.
There have been a number of protests against US bases
A member of the US Air Force in Japan has been jailed for 32 months
after being found guilty of raping a woman in Okinawa.
The alleged rape took place in this car park
The Naha District Court ruled that Staff Sergeant Timothy Woodland, 25,
raped the 24-year-old Japanese woman in a car park at a shopping complex
near the Kadena air base.
Woodland had admitted having sex with the woman, but said it had been
consensual.
The case aroused controversy because the US military took four days to
hand Woodland over to the Japanese police, arguing that it needed
guarantees he would be given fair treatment.
There are 50,000 US troops based in Japan, half of those in Okinawa.
Jail term
The jail term was slightly shorter than the three years which
prosecutors had sought.
Lawyers said three years for rape was the norm in Japanese courts,
adding that under Japanese criminal law, two years in prison is the
minimum for rape, and that it is rare for the sentences to be over five
years.
Woodland initially stood motionless as the sentence was read out, but
then asked to sit down, after appearing to feel faint.
The case has aroused considerable interest
The trial, which began last September, heard the alleged rape victim say
she was too scared to cry for help at the time of the incident.
She said she had given no sign she would consent to sex, and described
such suggestions as "outrageous".
The incident was the latest in a series which provoked local resentment
of the US military presence on the southern Japanese island.
Source: BBC
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