First Japanese Denial of U.S. Extradition Request: Economic Espionage Case

On March 29, 2004, the Tokyo High Court rejected the U.S. request that a Japanese scientist Takashi Okamoto be extradited to the U.S. to face economic espionage and other related charges. Presiding Judge Masaru Suda ruled that there was no probable cause to believe that Dr. Okamoto had intended to benefit his new employer - the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) funded by the Japanese government - when he took the genetic materials out of the research institute in Ohio, U.S...[more]