Evening star., 1946-06-02
Is laps Go 10 Trial
Tomorrow on Charges
Of War Conspiracy
lx the Assoeiatsd Irsss.

TOKYO, Sunday, June O.
Twenty-six of the men who led
Japan in her losing gamble to
create a mighty empire through
intrigue, and aggression are
scheduled to 60 on trial before
their victorious enemies tomor-
row in a proceeding frankly de-
Scribed as a dramatic show des-
tined for run" of six to nine
months.
The prosecutors, representing II
Allied nations, plan to place on the
record for the world the whole story
Of Japan since 1928 and Of the parts
played by the 26 accused of having
conspired to plant their rising sun
standard on the soil of other ma
.tions.
The detailed evidence will track
back through Korea, Manchuria, and
China, the Philippines, the East
Indies, New Guinea, Burma, Malaga,
and the hot little islands of the
Pacific.
Questions Before Tribunal.
The top defendant is Hideki TOTO,
the Pearl Harbor- time Premier who
attempted suicide when his country
surrendered but whose life was saved
by American surgery for the court
room spectacle opening tomorrow.
The questions before the military
tribunal will be:
To what extent did these men con-
tribute to Japan's aggression?
Are they responsible for the pillage
of Nanking?
For the slaughter of civilians at
Canton and Hankow?
The pillage of the Philippines?
The sneak attack on Pearl Har-
Dor?
Were the parts they played crimes?
The prosecutor will contend that
the accused politicians and mill
tarists violated international law
and that, as a new concept, leaders
Of a nation are responsible for its
aggressions
ANY nation or group Of nations, -
said British prosecutor at the ar
raignment, has an inherent right to
bring war criminals to justice when
ever and wherever they have an op-
portunity to do So"
Will Attack Jurisdiction.
The defense already has unsuc-
cessfully challenged the right of the
tribunal to prosecute the Defend
ants for Grimes against peace" and
Grimes against humanity which
do not appear in any law books as
such.
The defense will try again to win
freedom for the 26 by pleading that
the tribunal lacks jurisdiction to try
them and that there is no precedent
in international law for such a trial.
The justices represent II nations
that fought and defeated Japan, but
mostly, it will be an American show
The Charter laid down by Gen.
Macarthur is rooted in American
procedure. with more flexible rules
of evidence than an ordinary court.
Americans Aid Defendants.
The chief prosecutor is q Rhode
Island-born former American rack
ct buster, Joseph B. keenan,, former
Assistant to the Attorney General.
His American staff outnumbers the
other Allied representation. Each
Of the defendants has been supplied
with an American attorney in ad-
dition to Japanese counsel.
But the trial itself will deal with
alleged offenses against all the par
ticipating nations, going back to
Japanese intrigue in Manchuria in
1928.
One American attorney said it
would have Ito go like lightning"
to end before Christmas, and other
predictions range up to nine
months.
When 1t is finally over. the men
who once ruled an empire will rise
to hear the verdict of the Allied
victors; and in a mountain of tram
scripts will be long story Of what
Japan did and what happened to
her in the IS years that ended In
her utter capitulation last Septem-
Der.