The police have apologized to four people for mistakenly arresting them over threats posted on the Internet. The police admitted their error after it became evident that the threats had been made by a still unknown person who hacked their computers — but not before the police had extracted confessions from two of the four suspects. The police must humbly reflect upon their conduct, thoroughly examine their mistakes and make public their findings and what corrective measures will be taken to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

The prosecution is also to blame for this travesty of justice. After two of the suspects confessed, the prosecution indicted one and sent the case of the other, a 19-year-old student, to a family court, which placed him on probation. Obviously the public prosecutors did not carry out careful investigation and simply believed the reports sent to them by the police. Both the police and prosecution should realize that they have committed grave errors and compromised their credibility as law-enforcement organizations.

The Kanagawa prefectural police arrested the student on July 1 after a statement threatening a primary school appeared on Yokohama City's website on June 29. The Osaka prefectural police arrested a 43-year-old man from Suita, Osaka Prefecture, on Aug. 26 after a statement threatening mass murder appeared on Osaka City's website on July 29. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested a 28-year-old man in Fukuoka on Sept. 1 after e-mail threatening to attack students was sent to a Tokyo kindergarten on Aug. 27. The Mie prefectural police arrested a 28-year-old man from Tsu on Sept. 14 after a statement threatening to bomb Ise Shrine appeared on an Internet message board on Sept. 10.