The Japanese lawmaker who claimed that Class-A war criminals are no longer regarded as criminals in Japan was trying to whitewash Japan's atrocities during and before World War II, a US legal expert told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Dr. Robert Donihi, who served as a prosecuting lawyer at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, said he was not quite clear about what had happened recently, but that he was quite sure that the Japanese lawmaker, Masahiro Morioka, was "trying to whitewash the things that happened in the atrocities in WWII and before."

Morioka, parliamentary secretary for health, labor and welfare,said last Tuesday the Class-A war criminals are no longer regarded as criminals in Japan.

"Class-A, Class-B, Class-C war criminals were decided at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. It was a one-sided trial fixed by the occupation forces," Morioka said.

"It could hardly be one-sided, it was 12 nations, 11 judges representing 12 nations on the bench," said Donihi, who participated in the trial of Class-A war criminals in Tokyo.

He said it was true the occupation of Japan after WWII was by the United States, but the tribunal was an international tribunal.

Donihi, already in his 90s, said Morioka might want to say that the views of all the nations on the tribunal were illegal expect for his own. "He is taking a very biased position," Donihi said.

"I can't understand. It's too bad the Japanese people don't seem to be able to shoulder their responsibility for the war crimes" 60 years after the war was over, he said.

Source: Xinhua