OMM Redaksiyası
Residents of Japan’s Okinawa prefecture are worried after a US Marine was suspected of killing a woman in Naha, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi again voiced outrage over the case.
Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, was suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha’s Wakasa district last Saturday. The case has prompted protests and widespread public anger, Kyodo News reported.
Takaichi told Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja on Wednesday that Japan intended to take preventive steps with the United States following the killing.
Koja said the case had left residents in the prefecture worried and sought full cooperation from the US side in the investigation. Ballard has denied involvement and has been sent to prosecutors.
Koja also met Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and urged him to take effective and fundamental measures. Okinawa hosts the majority of US military facilities in Japan.
About 50,000 to 55,000 US military personnel are stationed in Japan under the US-Japan Security Treaty, first signed in 1951 and revised in 1960.
Following Ballard’s arrest on suspicion of murder, US forces in Okinawa imposed a 48-hour operational pause, a complete alcohol ban, restrictions on off-base liberty and a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew for one month.
US Forces Okinawa Area Coordinator Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson and US Marine Air Ground Task Force Sgt. Maj. Christopher Adams met US military leaders on Wednesday to reinforce expectations for the operational pause, a period of reflection, standards, discipline and responsible liberty, according to a statement.
