Father of 1997 Murder Victim Blasts Court's Record Disposal

Kobe, May 24 (Jiji Press)--Mamoru Hase, the father of a boy killed in the 1997 serial attacks on children in Kobe, western Japan, has criticized a family court's disposal of all records concerning the high-profile case.

The court discarded the records despite a bylaw decided by the Supreme Court stipulating permanent conservation of records on high-profile cases, Hase noted.

Such an act "does not occur at an ordinary organization," Mamoru, 67, said in a statement. "This is totally unacceptable."

Wednesday marked the 26th year since his son, Jun, then 11 years old, was murdered in Kobe's Suma Ward. The attacker, a third-grade male junior high school student, was arrested later.

Last year, Kobe Family Court was found to have disposed of all related records.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]