Ex-Gen. Teiichi Suzuki of Japan; War Criminal Pardoned in 1958

TOKYO —  Teiichi Suzuki, a former army general who helped plan Japan’s economy during World War II and later was imprisoned as a war criminal, died of heart failure Saturday, his family said. He was 100.

Suzuki, who served as a lieutenant general in the Imperial Army, was the last surviving member of a group of top leaders convicted of war crimes.

He was the primary planner of Japan’s wartime economy, serving as state minister of the Planning Board from 1941 to 1943. After Japan’s defeat in World War II in 1945, Suzuki stood trial along with wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and other Japanese leaders.

Suzuki was given a life sentence by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in 1948, but he was released on parole from Sugamo Prison for war criminals in Tokyo in 1955 and given a full pardon in 1958. The trial of 28 wartime Japanese leaders, charged with conspiracy to wage war and negligence in preventing war crimes, began on May 3, 1946, lasted 417 days, and cost $10 million.

Seven of the 28 were condemned and hanged Dec. 23, 1948, including Tojo, who bungled a suicide attempt when he was about to be arrested. The others were Gens. Seishiro Itagaki, Kenji Doihara, Heitaro Kimura, Iwane Matsui and Akira Muto; and Koki Hirota, the only civilian.

1 Declared Insane, 2 Died

Among the remaining 21 defendants, one was declared insane, and Yosuke Matsuoka, a U.S.-educated former foreign minister, and Adm. Osami Nagano died of illness while the trials were in progress.

Five died while serving prison terms, and the others, including Suzuki, were paroled after serving part of their sentences.

Suzuki, after briefly returning to government service after his pardon, dropped from public view and refused to meet reporters.