Japan: Hassidic Boys on Trial

The trial of two Israeli Hassidic youths imprisoned in Japan has finally begun – a year and a half after their arrest. The trial of a third youth ended recently with a conviction and jail sentence of between five and eight years.

The youths, yeshiva students from Bnei Brak and Jerusalem, have been in jail in Japan since April 2008. They were arrested after Japanese authorities said they found "an unprecedented amount" of narcotics concealed in artifacts inside their suitcase. An attorney for two of the detainees, Mordechai Tzivin, said they had fallen victim to a hareidi-looking trickster who paid them to take "ancient holy Jewish books" to Japan.

They are charged with drug trafficking, as the Japanese authorities do not believe their claim that they did not know what was hidden inside the books.

The youngest of the three, who was a minor when he was arrested, will apparently be allowed to serve his jail sentence in Israel. However, he is being held in Japan until after the trial of his two friends, so that he can testify. The trial began today (Wednesday), and will continue in two weeks’ time.

Attorney Tzivin said that the legal process can be expected to end within 3-4 months: “Three days a week of sessions, beginning two weeks from now, then a few weeks for a verdict, and then a few more weeks for a sentence.”

The Eida HaHareidit in Jerusalem held a special prayer session for the three this week. “Heavenly mercies are needed to extricate them from the straits, and therefore let us awaken heavenly compassion in the Talmudei Torah and other educational institutions for these three boys: Yaakov Yosef ben Raizel, Yoel Zev ben Mirel Risa Chava, and [the youngest] Yosef ben Ita Rivka.”

The announcement also calls on “the teachers and educators to strengthen themselves in matters between ‘man and fellow man,’ and to judge others favorably, and in this merit, and in the merit of the words of Torah studied by children, they and all others of Israel who are in trouble and captivity shall be returned to their families in full health, spiritually and physically… Similarly, their names should be mentioned in all synagogues after the reading of the Torah.”

Though often criticized in Israel for their naivety, the boys are the subject of prayers in religious Jewish communities all over the world, which are also helping to raise money for their legal costs.