Nothing in the case of Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis argues that he was a negligent driver or that he fell asleep on May 29, 2021, when the car he was driving crashed into pedestrians and parked cars on Mount Fuji, killing an 85-year-old Japanese woman and her 54-year-old son-in-law.
His family said he was unresponsive to their screams and kicks — hardly the way someone who had merely dozed off would respond. A Navy investigation determined Alkonis had acute mountain sickness from the trip up Mount Fuji and had lost consciousness.
We don’t know why a Japanese court ruled differently, ignoring the evidence and sentencing Alkonis to three years in prison. We don’t know why the court ignored the family’s offer of a $1 million restitution settlement, something family members say generally settles such cases in Japan.
But we especially don’t understand why the U.S. Department of Defense has decided to end Alkonis’ pay and benefits while he serves his sentence, particularly given the Navy’s medical determination. The decision not to grant an exception to a department policy suspending pay puts Alkonis’ wife and three children in a dire financial situation — an unusually cruel circumstance that serves no purpose.
We applaud Utah Sen. Mike Lee for keeping this issue alive, issuing stern statements critical of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for denying the family’s request for an exception to department policy. The family has strong Utah ties. Alkonis’ wife, Brittany, attended Brigham Young University and has family in the state. Alkonis served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan.
We urge more focus and attention on solving this problem.
Lee is not alone in urging change. As CNN reported last summer, many members of Congress have spoken on behalf of Alkonis, urging the Japanese government and the Biden administration to work for his release. These include Democratic Rep. Mike Levin of California and 20 Republican senators who wrote a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, urging him to instead expel Alkonis from the country.
The senators said the “full nature” of the case had not been considered, CNN said. They reminded the prime minister that no alcohol or drugs were involved in the crash, and said that a Japanese national convicted of the same crime would likely be granted leniency.
In response, the Japanese ambassador to the United States said the court’s verdict was final, but said the government remained open to “potential actions.”
Unfortunately, the Defense Department’s decision to suspend pay weakens any efforts to bring Alkonis home. It makes the Biden administration appear to be in agreement with the court’s guilty verdict.
We understand that some Japanese citizens are resentful of the continued American troop presence in their country. But the Japanese government just approved a $8.6 billion, five-year, host-nation support budget to help support those troops, and it framed that support as necessary in light of new threats from China, North Korea and Russia.
Surely, the White House has enough leverage to negotiate the release of a serviceman wrongly imprisoned.
We urge members of the Senate and House to continue applying pressure on the administration to at least secure continued pay to Alkonis while he serves his sentence. As tragic as the accident was in May of 2021, the evidence strongly suggests it was not a criminal act.
With so many tensions in the world, and with freedom under attack from so many sides, the United States needs to signal its strong support for hard-working servicemen. Absent any evidence of criminal wrongdoing, their selfless service to the nation deserves respect and support.