A Japanese court has ordered the central and Tokyo Metropolitan governments to pay damages over the wrongful arrests and detention of three people suspected of involvement in what they considered to be illegal exports.

Okawara Masaaki, who heads chemical machine maker Ohkawara Kakohki, and others sued the two governments, demanding the payment of damages worth over 500 million yen, or about 3.5 million dollars.

In the ruling handed down on Wednesday, Tokyo District Court's Presiding Judge Momosaki Tsuyoshi noted that investigations conducted by Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department were illegal. He pointed out that the indictment made by prosecutors was also illegal.

Momosaki ordered that damages totaling over 162 million yen, or about 1.1 million dollars, be paid to the plaintiffs.

Okawara and two executives of the company in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, were arrested and indicted in 2020. The charges were illegally exporting goods that can be used for military purposes to China and other destinations.

It was later found that the export was not subject to regulations. The indictment was revoked and the process of criminal indemnity was taken against the three people.

One of the three died of cancer that was detected during his detention. Okawara and another executive of the company were detained for nearly a year.

Okawara and the other plaintiffs, including the bereaved family of the deceased former defendant, claimed that they suffered pain due to the wrongful investigations. They added that the company also suffered damages.

The central and Tokyo governments claimed there were no illegal investigations.

The lawsuit saw unusual developments. A Tokyo police personnel involved in the investigations testified that the charges had been fabricated. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government dismissed the statement as lacking concrete evidence.