英郵便の冤罪事件に再注目 政府、有罪取り消しと補償へ

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英国で、郵便局で利用されていた会計システムの欠陥により、郵便局長らが横領などの罪で不当に訴追された事件に再び注目が集まっている。欠陥があったのは、富士通が納入した会計ソフトだった。政府は１０日、冤罪（えんざい）被害者が受けた有罪判決を取り消し、直ちに補償を行う方針を表明した。（写真は資料写真）
　リシ・スナク首相は同日、元局長らの無実の罪を晴らし、補償を行うための新法を導入するという極めて異例の決定を発表し、「英国史上最大級の冤罪」を正すことに協力したいとの考えを示した。
　この事件では、郵便局長ら７００人以上が不当に訴追された。民事訴追を受け、罰金や多額の訴訟費用の支払いを強いられた人もいた。発端は２０年以上前にさかのぼるが、事件を扱ったテレビドラマが最近放送されたことで、再び関心が集まっている。　
　新法により、イングランドとウェールズの当事者の有罪判決が取り消されるほか、１人当たり６０万ポンド（約１億１０００万円）の賠償金を受け取るか、個別に補償協議に臨む機会が与えられる。
　一方、集団民事訴訟の原告に対しては、新たに７万５０００ポンド（約１４００万円）が支払われる。政府は近年、事件の冤罪被害者２５００人以上に対し、総額１億５０００万ポンド（約２８０億円）近くをすでに支払ってきたとしている。
　高等法院は２０１９年、金額に食い違いが生じていたのは犯罪行為が原因ではなく、システムの欠陥だったとの判断を下した。
　しかし事件により、大勢が人生を狂わせられた。中には、収監され、破産し、自宅を失い、健康を損ねた被害者もいた。４人が自殺し、無罪が証明される前に数十人が亡くなっている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/12-18:31）

The UK government announced Wednesday it will unilaterally quash the wrongful theft convictions of hundreds of self-employed Post Office branch managers targeted due to faulty software, and offer them immediate compensation.
Announcing the highly unusual decision to pass legislation exonerating and compensating the subpostmasters, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wanted to help right one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history.
It follows renewed focus on a scandal stretching back two decades, which saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongly convicted of theft because of the glitch in Fujitsu's then-new Horizon accounting software.
Others were pursued in civil court and faced fines and huge legal bills.
Today I can announce that we will introduce new primary legislation to make sure that those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal are swiftly exonerated and compensated, Sunak told parliament.
People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own.
The victims must get justice and compensation.
- 'Exceptional step' -
Alongside the exonerations for those criminally convicted in England and Wales, the government will offer £600,000 ($764,000) per head in upfront compensation or the opportunity for claims to be individually assessed.
Meanwhile, those who are part of a group civil litigation over the issue will now qualify for a new upfront payment of £75,000.
The government said it has in recent years paid almost £150 million in compensation to over 2,500 total victims embroiled in the scandal.
We recognise this is an exceptional step. But these are exceptional circumstances, business minister Kevin Hollinrake told lawmakers.
Acknowledging the compensation process could not become another protracted administrative exercise for the victims, he said postmasters would simply be asked to sign a statement swearing they did not commit the crimes they were accused of.
Anyone subsequently found to have been untruthful risked potential prosecution for fraud, he noted.
I do not pretend... this is a foolproof device, but it is a proportionate one which respects the ordeal which these people have already suffered, Hollinrake added.
It means that an honest postmaster will have his or her conviction overturned, and just by signing one document can secure compensation.
Numerous lives were ruined by the false accusations, which started in the early 2000s. Some Post Office branch managers were jailed, went bankrupt, losing their homes and their health.
Four people took their own lives and dozens of those so far exonerated died without ever seeing their names cleared.
- 'Move it on' -
The High Court in 2019 ruled that it had been computer errors, not criminality, that had been behind the missing money.
A new television drama telling the story of their ordeal at the hands of their own employer has generated a fresh wave of sympathy for the victims -- and pressure on the government to rectify the situation.
On Tuesday, the former boss of the Post Office Paula Vennells said she would return a royal honour received from Queen Elizabeth II, as public anger mounts.
Postmasters welcomed Wednesday's move by the government.
This is what we've been calling for, the quashing of all convictions, the government to legislate for it, to move it on, Tim Brentnall, who ran a Post Office in Wales, told the BBC.
His conviction -- which led to an 18-month suspended sentence and 200 hours of community service -- over a £22,000 shortfall was eventually overturned in 2021.
It has been two and-a-half years since my conviction was quashed and nothing has really happened for me.