A Peruvian man whose interrogation by police violated international human rights charters was sentenced Thursday by the Fukuoka District Court to 30 months in prison for the attempted rape of a woman he was teaching to dance.
Javier Pariasca, 39, is planning to appeal the ruling.
Pariasca admitted the rape charge while being questioned by police after his arrest in 2004. But the Kurume branch of the district court rejected this confession as evidence in the ensuing trial because an interpreter was not present at Pariasca's interrogation.
Presiding Judge Masayoshi Takahara had said earlier: "When he was questioned, there was no interpreter. This is against the International Covenants on Human Rights."
Nevertheless, the judge handed down a 30-month prison term, saying: "The victim's testimony is basically consistent and is credible.
"The defendant was driven by lust in committing the crime. He was selfish and discounted the victim's identity."
Pariasca tried to rape the woman on a sofa at his home, where he also taught dance, in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, shortly after 1 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2003.
The defense counsel claimed that the defendant had misunderstood the situation, thinking the woman had accepted his advances. The judge dismissed the claim, saying the woman had resisted.