The Tokyo Trial of Japanese war criminals laid the foundation for modern international criminal law and the post-war world order, Russian experts have said ahead of the 80th anniversary of the tribunal’s opening, while denouncing efforts to undermine its significance.
From May 3, 1946, to Nov. 12, 1948, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East tried Class-A Japanese war criminals during World War II in a series of international trials in Tokyo, known as the “Tokyo Trial.”
“The Tokyo Trial documented the massive atrocities committed by the Japanese military across Asia, including the Nanjing Massacre, mass executions and other grave crimes,” said Anatoly Koshkin, academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and executive council member of the Russian Association of World War II Historians.
“It represents a landmark judicial proceeding against Japanese military and political leaders charged with WWII-era crimes,” said Koshkin.
Koshkin also noted that the Tokyo Trial was a tribunal for all peoples. “It was widely believed that verdicts against the instigators of WWII would act as a strong barrier against the future resurgence of fascism, Nazism and militarism,” he said.
