The Double Tenth trial

The Double Tenth trial was conducted on 18 March 1946 against 21 Kempeitai of the Singapore Branch for the war crime of contriving to arrest in particular 57 civilians who had been interned at Changi Gaol around 10 October 1943; and thereafter ill-treating them resulting in the death of 15. After 21 days of hearing, on 15 April 1946, the Court found 14 guilty with eight sentenced to death by hanging and six having to serve a prison term; seven of the accused were acquitted.

Details
The war crime trial was held in the Supreme Court Buildings before a Military Court, presided over by Lieutenant Colonel S. C. Silkin. The 21 Kempeitai included Lieutenant Colonel Sumida Haruzo, Commanding Officer of the Singapore Branch. Their defence was that they had acted under the orders of their superiors. However, the prosecution countered by citing the famed German Supreme Court case of Llamdovery Castle of 1922 which noted that "members of the armed forces are bound to obey lawful orders only".

Who's who
Members of Court
Presider : Lt.-Col. S. C. Silken, R. A., B. A. (Cantab.) of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law
Member of Court : Maj. S. F. Hodgens, Australian Army Legal Corps
Member of Court : Capt. R. J. Topping, 6/8 Punjab Regiment.

Counsel for the Prosecution
Lt.-Col. S. C. Sleeman, 16/5 Lancers, Barrister-at-Law; Asst. Judge Adv. Gen., HQ, Allied Land Forces, Southeast Asia
Capt. A. A. Hibbert, R.W.A.F.F., Staff Capt. (Legal), HQ, Allied Land Forces, Southeast Asia.

Counsel for the Defence
Hori Masakaya
Suzuki Hisakazu
Both were Advocates of District Courts in Japan, assisted by Lt. Wilkinson.

Accussed
Prisoner 1 : Lt-Col. Sumida Haruzo, death sentence
Prisoner 2 : W. O. Monai Tadamori, death sentence
Prisoner 5 : Sgt-Maj. Makizono Masuo, death sentence
Prisoner 6 : Sgt-Maj. Terada Tako, death sentence
Prisoner 7 : Sgt. Nozawa Toichiro, death sentence
Prisoner 8 : Sgt-Maj Tsujio Shiger, death sentence
Prisoner 10 : Sgt-Maj Morita Shozo, death sentence
Prisoner 19 : Interpreter Toh Swee Koon, death sentence
Prisoner 4 : W. O. Sakamoto Shigeru, life imprisonment
Prisoner 14 : Sgt. Kashara Hideo, life imprisonment
Prisoner 18 : Interpreter Nigo Masyoshi, life imprisonment
Prisoner 20 : Interpreter Miyazaki Kasuo, 15 years imprisonment
Prisoner 13 : Sgt. Sugimoto Kozo, 8 years imprisonment
Prisoner 21 : Interpreter Chan Eng Thiam, 8 years imprisonment.

Seven of the accused were acquitted. The finding and sentence on Toh Swee Koon and Miyazaki Kasuo were not confirmed because they were British subjects and therefore not within the jurisdiction of the Court. Subsequently, they were tried and convicted by a local Court on similar charges.



Author
Wong Heng



References 
Haruzo, S. (1947). The Double Tenth Trial, War Crimes Court, in re Lt.-Col. Sumida and 20 others. Singapore: Malayan Law Journal Office.
(Call no.: RCLOS 341.69 HAR)

Haruzo, S. (1951). Trial of Sumida Haruzo and twenty others (the "Double Tenth" trial). London: W. Hodge.
(Call no.: RCLOS 341.69 HAR)

Piccigallo, P. R. (1979). The Japanese on trial: Allied war crimes operations in the East, 1945 -1951 (p. 110). Austin: University of Texas Press.
(Call no.: RCLOS 341.69 PIC) 

Turnbull, C. M. (1989). A History of Singapore: 1819-1988 (p. 206). Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 TUR)



The information in this article is valid as at 2001 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Events>>Historical Periods>>World War II and Japanese Occupation (1939 - 1945)
Singapore--History--Japanese occupation, 1942-1945
War crime trials--Singapore
History>>Asia>>Southeast Asia>>Singapore

Librarian Recommendations
>> Double Tenth Incident


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