The Justice Ministry issued a letter of protest Wednesday to the publisher of Focus magazine for the publication of an illustration and writing samples by a Kobe boy who killed two children and assaulted three others last year.
The latest issue of the magazine, published by Shinchosha, carried photographs of a drawing of a god he created, a composition he wrote at his school and a letter to the imaginary god detailing his assault on two girls on March 16 last year. One of the girls died.
The boy has been sent to a juvenile medical correctional facility. The items had been confiscated from the boy's home as evidence. Focus says in its article that the materials were sent to the magazine by mail on Feb. 21. "We don't know who sent them to us and for what reason," the magazine said in the article.
The ministry's letter said publication of such materials violates the Juvenile Law and the Criminal Procedure Law. The publication "creates human rights problems in view of the boy's correctional process and protection of his human rights, as well as the feelings of the victims' families."