© Kyodo/Reuters
Tokyo has launched an official protest with Washington after a US sailor was arrested on suspicion of raping a Japanese tourist in Okinawa. The incident is likely to complicate plans to build a controversial new US airbase on the island.
Justin Castellanos, who was based at the US Navy's Camp Schwab, is alleged to have raped a woman in her 40s at a hotel in Naha in the south of Okinawa.
"It was extremely regrettable that this case happened," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference, as cited by Kyodo news agency. The Japanese government has demanded that Washington "tighten discipline and prevent a recurrence of such incidents," Suga added.
Suga said that US officials are taking the allegations seriously, but also mentioned it would be "regrettable" if the 24-year-old US sailor was found guilty.
Local police in Naha arrested Castellanos on Sunday on suspicion of taking a Japanese woman into his hotel room and raping her. However, the US sailor denies the charges,
saying he found the woman sleeping in the corridor and took her to his room.
The governor of Owinawa, Takeshi Onaga, confirmed the incident had taken place. "It was a serious crime in violation of women's human rights and can never be tolerated,"Onaga said, according to Kyodo. "I feel strong resentment." He also added that the incident could have an effect on tourism to the region, which is "a major industry for the prefecture."
Comment: So much for freedom in America. Police violate the people's civil rights as a matter of routine and there's nothing the average person can do anything about.