M12

Morotai Trial M12 was an Australian war crimes trial conducted on Morotai between 9 and 11 December 1945. The case concerned the murder of one of the three Royal Australian Air Force airmen, Hann, Walters and King, and formed part of the series of prosecutions arising from those executions. Lieutenant Nomura Koichi, Lieutenant Yabe Tokuhira and Sergeant Uchino Seizo of the 211 Regiment, 32nd Division, were charged with participating in the killing.

The prosecution alleged that Lieutenant Nomura called Sergeant Uchino from the ranks and that Lieutenant Yabe ordered him to bayonet the wounded Australian prisoner after he had already been stabbed by another soldier. The court found all three accused guilty. Lieutenants Nomura and Yabe, who directed the execution, were sentenced to death by shooting and were executed on Morotai on 6 March 1946. Sergeant Uchino, who carried out the order, was initially sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, later reduced to five years on review. This page summarises the trial, the evidence, the convictions, the differing sentences imposed according to each accused's role and the surviving archival records, including the Judge Advocate General's report.