740.00116 PW/4–946
Mr. Max W. Bishop, of the Office of the Political Adviser in Japan, to the Secretary of State
No. 357
[Received April 22.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit a memorandum, prepared by Mr. T. L. Blakemore of the staff of this Office, on the “Preparations of Defense Counsel for Class A War Criminal Suspects”.71
Summary. Despite delays in the return of the indictment (now promised for April 15), most of the Class A War Criminal suspects under detention have selected defense counsel, who have organized themselves and have had some discussion of common problems. Lacking members fluent in English and extensively experienced in Anglo-American law, the defense seeks the assistance of competent American lawyers (either directly employed or provided by the Tribunal) and access to recent foreign legal materials. End of summary.
Appendices to the memorandum contain material of interest to a more detailed study of preparations for the trial. Appendix I lists the defense counsel engaged by the expected defendants. Appendix II is a published series of articles by a Japanese legal authority on the subject to the International Military Tribunal, in which is expressed a prevalent Japanese fear that the trial will be politically vindictive rather than legal in character. Appendix III is a statement of the views of a prominent defense attorney of the problems faced by the defense and comments on the relative guilt of the present suspects.
Respectfully yours,
Foreign Service Officer
- Not printed.↩