The Pittsburgh Press (November 25, 1945)
International trial planned for Tojo
WASHINGTON (UP, Nov. 24) – The U.S. government has rejected urgent and repeated recommendations of Gen. Douglas MacArthur for immediate trial of former Jap Premier Hideki Tojo for offenses against the United States, it was learned tonight. The United States has decreed that instead Tojo must be tried first as an international war criminal.
In an exchange of messages with the War Department over a period of more than six weeks, it was learned Gen. MacArthur repeatedly recommended an immediate trial of the Jap warlord responsible for the sneak attack December 7, 1941, on Pearl Harbor.
The War Department disclosed last night that because of international aspects Gen. MacArthur has been forbidden to proceed immediately, as he wished to do, with the trial of Tojo, or with the trials of other Jap officials who might be charged with waging a war of aggression in violation of international treaties.
The State Department, the announcement said, is consulting with other governments concerned, and Tojo’s prosecution, presumably on an international basis, will begin at “the earliest practicable date.”
Joseph B. Keenan, former head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, is this government’s chief prosecutor of Jap war criminals. Gen. MacArthur has been informed that “it is desired” that Mr. Keenan have full charge of the trials of Tojo and his Cabinet members.