M23

Morotai Trial M23 was an Australian war crimes trial conducted on Morotai on 14 January 1946. The case concerned the murder of Australian prisoner of war Signalman Henry Williams, who was captured during an Australian patrol in Dutch Borneo in November 1944. After his capture, Williams was reportedly treated well while his captor sought instructions from headquarters regarding his fate.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Captain Kato Kihachiro received a signal from his headquarters ordering that the prisoner be executed. A few days later, Williams was shot by a squad of Indonesian soldiers acting under Kato's command. The court found Captain Kato guilty of ordering and causing the execution of the prisoner of war and sentenced him to death by shooting. This page summarises the trial, the evidence, the sentence imposed and the surviving archival records, including the Judge Advocate General's report.