Update | Japanese politician, 70, denies charges in China after being caught with 3kg of crystal meth
Defence lawyer claims accused did not know he was carrying narcotics when he was picked up last year by airport security in Guangzhou
A 70-year-old Japanese politician stood trial yesterday in Guangzhou on drug charges punishable by death, with his defence lawyers arguing he did not know he was carrying more than 3kg of narcotics in his bag.
Takuma Sakuragi pleaded not guilty in the Guangzhou City Intermediate People's Court to charges of transporting illegal drugs.
Sakuragi is a member of the Inazawa municipal assembly in Aichi prefecture in southern Japan and has travelled to Nigeria in the past on private business.
The indictment alleged that Sakuragi flew from Nagoya to Guangzhou on October 29 last year, checking into a hotel in Sanyuanli, Baiyun district, with the help of a Nigerian national identified as Gemadi Hassan.
Sakuragi testified that he went to Guangzhou after months of corresponding by e-mail with Hassan, who promised to help Sakuragi recoup US$701,000 in investment losses in Nigerian trades he had amassed since 1992 if Sakuragi went to the southern city and signed some documents.
Sakuragi said he signed the paperwork because it appeared to have been issued by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Acting on the instructions of Hassan, another man, Aly Yattabare, 35, from Mali, handed Sakuragi a suitcase containing women's platform shoes, which Sakuragi was supposed to take to Japan and pass on to a third party, the indictment said.