A US Marine was arrested Sunday on suspicion of murder and robbery after a woman’s body was discovered in a hotel room in Okinawa, prompting outrage across Japan, with the local governor saying the incident showed the US efforts to maintain discipline among its troops were “completely ineffective.”
As I understand it, most of the agreements regarding crimes committed by service members in Japan under SOFA relate to how Japan can detain service members, and extradition. In this case, because Japan detained the marine off base, there isn’t much the US can do other than ask for him back, which will likely never happen, unless he’s cleared of the murder.
If the marine hadn’t already been detained off base, and was trying to lie low on base, officially the US is supposed to be detain the marine until Japan formally indicts him, at which point he would be turned over to the Japanese police. In reality, that’s the point where the US usually flies the accused service member back to the US before Japan can formally indicts them.
As I understand it, most of the agreements regarding crimes committed by service members in Japan under SOFA relate to how Japan can detain service members, and extradition. In this case, because Japan detained the marine off base, there isn’t much the US can do other than ask for him back, which will likely never happen, unless he’s cleared of the murder.
If the marine hadn’t already been detained off base, and was trying to lie low on base, officially the US is supposed to be detain the marine until Japan formally indicts him, at which point he would be turned over to the Japanese police. In reality, that’s the point where the US usually flies the accused service member back to the US before Japan can formally indicts them.