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How Iva Toguri D’Aquino Was Treated by Justice Department

Iva Toguri D’Aquino was apprehended by the U.S army authorities because she seemed to have known so much about the US ships and the troops movement. The FBI and Army Counterintelligence wanted to determine if with her participation in the radio, she had violated any crimes against the U.S. With extensive investigation conducted, they did not find any grounds to hold her and there was also insufficient evidence to begin a prosecution and she was thus released. After her release, she wanted to come back to the US but the public was furious since they could not believe a person they believed to be a traitor wanted to come back. Due to the public fury, the Justice Department were convinced that the matter needed to be re-examined, FBI were asked to turn over the investigation records and the progress they had made (FBI, 2016). Many of the recordings had however been destroyed due to the decision not to prosecute Aquino.

The Justice department wanted to get more evidence that would provide enough grounds for prosecution of Aquino. This was done by contacting former soldiers and sailors who would be in a position to identify her voice as well as getting evidence from Japan. With enough evidence to begin a trial and a jury as convened. Her trial began on 5th July and September 29th, 1949 she was found guilty of treason. She was sentenced to ten years in prison and was also fined $10, 000 for the crime. January 28th, 1956, she was released from Federal Reformatory for Women after serving for six years and two months of her sentence. President Gerald Ford pardoned her on January 19th 1977 and she fought against the government efforts of releasing her (Uyeda, 1978). Aquino was treated pretty decently by the American government, her trial was fare and she eventually got pardoned.

References

FBI. Iva Toguri d’Aquino and “Tokyo Rose”. (2016, May 18). Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/iva-toguri-daquino-and-tokyo-rose.

Uyeda, C. I. (1978). The Pardoning of “Tokyo Rose”: A Report on the Restoration of American Citizenship to Iva Ikuko Toguri. Amerasia Journal, 5(2), 69-93.