Film

Presumed Guilty - Creating False Confessions 2008

48 min Documentary

Lawyers, an ex-police investigator and a former judge denounce Japan's criminal justice system as defendants in a high-profile 2003 election-rigging case in Kagoshima explain how detectives tried to extract false confessions on trumped-up charges of vote-buying. Those who buckled under the pressure and confessed spent over a year in prison. All the "suspects" were finally acquitted, but remain permanently scarred by the ordeal. This documentary is a dramatic reminder that indiscriminate arrests and convictions should be fought with the full force of the law.

Watch free in the UK

Not listed as free in the UK right now. You can still watch the official trailer below.