Verdict in Japan: Not Guilty

By VIN News and COLlive

Yoel Zev Goldstein, one of the three Israeli bochurim who has been imprisoned in Japan for unintentionally transporting drugs into the country, has been found not guilty by a Japanese court of law.

According to Rabbi Ahron Nezri and Meilech Bindinger, who have both dedicated endless hours to this case, it is not uncommon for Japanese prosecutors to appeal a not-guilty verdict at the high court, the public is requested to daven for Yoel Zev ben Mirel Risa Chava to come home quickly and for the verdict not to be appealed.

The prosecutor has 14 days to lodge an appeal, should he choose to do so.

Despite being found innocent, Goldstein was taken in to custody by immigration officers after the verdict was read for having overstayed the 90 day visa he was given when he landed in Japan in April 2008.

His lawyers are in the process of preparing the necessary paperwork which will explain the reason for overstaying his visa and they are hoping to arrange a temporary visa, allowing him to leave the country as quickly as possible and minimize the possibility of the not guilty verdict being appealed.

Attorney Mordechai Tzivin told COLlive: “This is an unprecedented legal victory, given that the previous two (bochurim) were convicted, and given that in Japan, 90 percent of the indictments served in drug scandals end a conviction.”

Tzivin, a Lubavitcher who scours the world to save Jews in prison, estimated that approximately 80 percent of drug related cases in Japan end with an admission of the suspects.