Washington
CNN
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The family of a US Navy officer imprisoned in Japan rallied outside the White House on Wednesday to protest his detention and try to attract President Joe Biden’s attention to the case.
Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis was sentenced to three years in a Japanese prison in October for what Japanese courts deemed to be the negligent driving deaths of two Japanese citizens in May 2021. Alkonis appealed, but his sentence was upheld last month.
Alkonis has maintained that he suffered from acute mountain sickness as he was driving down from Mount Fuji with his family on May 29, 2021, and fell unconscious behind the wheel, leading to the deadly crash. An 85-year-old woman and her 54-year-old son-in-law died in the accident.
The Japanese high court did not believe Alkonis’ argument that he fell ill, and instead accused him of falling asleep at the wheel. Under those standards, Alkonis’ sentence could have been longer – under Japanese law, he could have faced up to seven years in prison, according to the Japanese government.
But Alkonis’ family has argued he was ill, not negligent, and therefore committed no crime. They have also noted that they offered the victims’ families over $1 million in restitution, as is customary in Japan.
“The reason we think it’s unfair is because his Japanese attorney said that people that have been in situations like his that have made a complete settlement—0% of them have gone to prison,” Brittany Alkonis, Ridge’s wife, told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview on “The Lead” on Wednesday.
Referring to the restitution payment, she told Tapper, “Our settlement, well, settlements in general, are very important. They’re a very important part of the Japanese judicial system. The one we made was incredibly large.”
Referring to the restitution payment, she told Tapper, “Our settlement, well, settlements in general, are very important. They’re a very important part of the Japanese judicial system. The one we made was incredibly large.”
No member of the US government has publicly said Alkonis did not receive a fair trial, but discussions have been taking place about bringing him back to the US to serve out his sentence, multiple sources told CNN.
Alkonis’ family and his supporters, including Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Rep. Mike Levin of California, have urged the Biden administration to do more to help free Alkonis. They have argued that he was improperly detained, put in solitary confinement, and interrogated by Japanese authorities for nearly a month after his arrest and before being charged, and that he did not receive a full medical evaluation after the accident that could have confirmed his mountain sickness.
“My husband was the victim of a medical emergency, yet he’s being treated like a criminal,” Brittany Alkonis said during a press conference on Wednesday. “Who is being punished the most by this injustice? It’s our three innocent children that miss their father every day.”
Twenty republican senators wrote to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier this month asking the Japanese government to consider expelling Alkonis, now serving a three-year prison sentence in Japan, as they made the case that the “full nature” of the situation had not been taken into consideration. They also noted that a Navy investigation concluded that Alkonis lost consciousness because of acute mountain sickness.
“With these considerations in mind, we respectfully and humbly ask that you will consider our request for the expulsion of Lieutenant Alkonis from Japan, allowing him to return to his wife and three children in the United States,” the senators wrote in a letter reviewed by CNN, laying out…
Read More: Ridge Alkonis: Family of US Navy officer jailed in Japan over fatal car crash