The trial of Kozo Okamoto, the Japanese “kamikaze” gunman captured in the May 30 Lydda Airport massacre will open next Monday at a military base in central Israel, it was learned today. The exact location has not been disclosed. It was learned, however, that an elaborate communications system to relay news of the trial has been completed. About 200 reporters, news photographers and television cameramen are expected to cover the proceedings.
Okamoto will be tried by a three-man military tribunal only one member of which is a lawyer. The composition of the tribunal precludes the death penalty which can be imposed only by a military tribunal that includes at least two jurists. The tribunal held a pre-trial hearing at Lydda last month to take testimony from a Puerto Rican tourist who witnessed the massacre.
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