Yoshihiro Yasuda - Definition and Overview

Yoshihiro Yasuda (born 1948) is considered one of Japan’s veteran trial attorneys and most renowned members of the Japanese Bar Association. Yasuda is also the most celebrated and important anti-death penalty activist in Japan.

Yasuda was Japan’s only trial attorney that agreed to defend Shoko Asahara, founder of the controversial Buddhist religious group accused of various crimes, including the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack.

In 1998 Yasuda was charged with ‘obstruction of justice’ and consequently could not direct the efforts of the defence team, which ‘jeopardized [Shoko Asahara’s] right for fair trial’ according to Amnesty International. He was acquitted of all charges in 2004, shortly before the end of Shoko Asahara’s trials.

External links

• ‘Amnesty International calls for inquiry into arrest of prominent human rights activist’ (http://www.siri.co.jp/~koyanagi/e-press.html). (In English)
• Mainichi Interactive: Asahara's lawyer acquitted of helping firm hide assets (http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/archive/200312/24/20031224p2a00m0dm010000c.html). (In English)