Arab News Japan

TOKYO: An Israeli accused of drug smuggling died in a prison in Yokohama near Tokyo, and “probably committed suicide,” his lawyer announced Tuesday in a press conference. 

Japanese criminal defense attorney, Takashi Takano, said that the detention center administration found the Israeli, Amnon Hanoh Tenenboim, 60, lifeless on the bed in his cell in solitary confinement, and the prison staff noticed an elastic strap from under his chin to the top of his head, suggesting he may have committed suicide. 

The lawyer was quoted by Kyodo News as saying that the prison administration and the Yokohama District Court had “refused” to grant special treatment to the Israeli prisoner despite his claims of suffering from heart disease after undergoing heart surgery in Israel about a month before his arrest by Kanagawa Prefectural Police on charges of smuggling a large amount of illegal stimulants into Japan in September 2020. 

Tenenboim had reportedly complained of ill health from immediately after his arrest, but his requests for medical assistance as of March 2021 were rejected, according to the lawyer who protested against “this inhuman treatment.”

Last month, Tenenboim asked the court to temporarily suspend his detention so that he could receive specialized medical treatment, but his request was refused, the lawyer said.

 “Tenenboim was denied access to anyone other than his lawyer, which also contributed to his psychological isolation and crisis,” according to Takano, who asserts that his client was innocent. “I asked that Tenenboim’s detention be suspended, and the doctor agreed that his condition was getting worse, but the request was not granted. This was inhumane,” Takano said. 

The court did not comment on the matter, but the detention center administration reportedly stated that regular medical examinations were conducted for Tenenboim and that he was given medications for high blood pressure, insomnia and angina, and that it regrets this incident, stressing that it will work harder to avoid such occurrences in the future. 

Tenenboim was arrested on September 21, 2020, after Japan Customs officials discovered 237 kilograms of kakuseizai, or methamphetamine stimulant drugs worth about 15 billion yen (100 million USD), concealed aboard the freighter while it was docked at Yokohama Port.

Tenenboim, declined to comment on the allegations while the other suspect Israeli Ofer Menachem Leibovich, 40, denied the charges.