US military personnel and civilian contractors working for American forces have been accused of multiple crimes in Okinawa this year. From January to October 2017, two have been arrested on allegations of robbery, two on allegations of rape and six on allegations of violent offenses, according to the Okinawa Prefecture Police website. Last year, US sailors in Japan were banned from drinking for an 11-day period after a petty officer was accused of driving on the wrong side of the road, hitting two cars and injuring two people, while under the influence of alcohol. In 2016, two incidents in the space of three months prompted widespread public anger -- in March, a US service member was arrested on suspicion of raping a Japanese tourist, and in May, a civilian contractor at a US base in Okinawa was arrested in connection with the death of a 20-year-old woman.
The maximum penalty for driving while disqualified is 12 months in prison.
More than half of nearly 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan under the Japan-U.S. security treaty are on Okinawa. In terms of space, more than 70 percent of Japan-based U.S. military facilities are on the small island. In 1995, three U.S. servicemen on Okinawa abducted and raped a 12-year-old girl in a case that triggered mass protests and led to an agreement to relocate a key air station to another area of the island. The plan has since stalled because residents want the base removed completely from the island.
Critics of the deployment of US troops in Japan complain of the crimes committed by American personnel against local residents, environmental damage done by US bases and other negative sides. Okinawa Island hosts roughly half of all American troops in Japan, and sentiment against the arrangement are especially strong there.
LAWYERS for a United States Marine who allegedly assaulted a massage parlour boss have accused the woman of fabricating a story and stealing the defendant’s phone in a bid to ensure she got paid.
Matthew Mueller denied allegations he threw Qin “Linda” Zhang to the ground at Pinnacle Massage, on Cavenagh St, in Darwin.
Defence lawyer Tom Berkley said the alleged victim had slipped over as she attempted to run away with his client’s phone during a reported dispute over payment for services.
“I put to you that he wasn’t asking for a refund – he was saying he had already paid and you wanted him to pay again,” he told Ms Zhang. “You took the phone from him ... to make sure you got payment.”
Ms Zhang gave evidence she picked up the mobile phone from a massage room floor after staff summoned her from nearby Nikko Massage to deal with a dispute about 2am on September 20, 2015.
Mueller had been unhappy with his first massage and switched girls, prosecutor Ian Rowbottam said.
Ms Zhang, through a Mandarin interpreter, told Darwin Magistrate Elizabeth Morris that Mueller demanded a refund as she tried to explain his card had been declined.
She said he demanded she give back his phone, and gave evidence he was verbally abusive before he allegedly grabbed her and threw her to the ground – twice – where she banged her head.
Mr Berkley said: “I suggest to you the only time you hit the ground was when you fell over.”
Ms Zhang said she ran back to Nikko Massage and gave Mueller’s phone to police because she wanted them “to catch the guy who hurt me”.
Witness Ying-Yu “Zoe” Chen gave evidence she had seen the alleged assaults.
whatever happened, the message is clear: if it's a Marine's word vs a sex worker,...