A Japanese Condemned for Parts of Antique Rifles

A Japanese citizen bought parts of the 3-line rifle M1891 as a souvenir and flew through Minsk.

The story with the Frenchman carrying home a bullet was still familiar for everybody and a similar situation happened to a Japanese citizen born in 1990 year. Minsk-Novosti inform the man tried to cross the border with parts of firearms. The foreigner is sentenced to four and a half years in the correctional facility with the reinforced regime without confiscation of property.

- The citizen of Japan landed in the National Airport of Minsk. During the search 10 shutters and four bodies for the 3-line rifle M1891 were found in the luggage of the young man. According to experts, these items can be used in grooved rifles. The young man was found guilty of illegal transportation of these parts, senior aide of the Minsk transport prosecutor, Diana Hlushkova, told.

For the totality of the crimes committed, stipulated by Art. 295, para. 2 and Art. 333, para. 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus the foreigner was sentenced to four and a half years in the correctional facility with the reinforced regime without confiscation of property. The verdict came into legal force.

How did it happen that a previously unconvicted individual entrepreneur from Japan who had positive characteristics from the place of residence became a criminal abroad? Perhaps, the person became the victim of his own reliance on sellers and ignorance of legislation of the foreign country.

The young man pleaded guilty. He said that he participated in the festival in Ukraine. While walking around Kyiv, he saw a specialized shop with antique things. The seller assured that parts were not suitable for use. The entrepreneur bought some for his collection. The number of items he explained with different numbers on bodies, he believed they belonged to different types of weapons. He believed that the possession of parts of firearms did not bear any responsibility in other countries as well as it was stipulated by laws of Japan.

When boarding the plane in Ukraine, no questions to the backpack with suspicious items raised, although the local customs service paid an increased attention to them. Nevertheless, the activity of the Ukrainian employees who let the businessman with parts of firearms in the plane did not affect the labelling process of the defendant.

It will be recalled that in September of 2017, a similar story happened in Homel. 24-year-old citizen of France Jolan Viaud was detained on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. There was a bullet for a pistol in his backpack's pocket. The Frenchman said that the souvenir was presented to him by a Polish acquaintance. The traveler spent almost two months in the remand prison. But after three court sessions he was declared not guilty.