I read somewhere he had been scheduled to drop last March. I wonder why the delay?
Posted on 08/24/2007 5:57:54 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Japan executes three murderers in 60s
Friday, August 24, 2007 - TOKYO, AFP
Japan on Thursday hanged three convicted murderers in their 60s as the country stepped up the pace of executions, officials and activists said.
A justice ministry spokeswoman said the prison system hanged three criminals but declined to provide any further details, in line with standard procedure in Japan.
Amnesty International and media reports said the three were convicted murderers aged between 60 and 69.
Japan is the only major industrialized nation other than the United States to practice the death penalty.
Despite enjoying one of the world's lowest crime rates, opinion polls show Japanese overwhelmingly support capital punishment amid growing public concern about violence.
The executions bring to 10 the number of inmates hanged since December, when Japan ended a 15-month halt in executions which was due to a previous justice minister's opposition to the death penalty.
The current justice minister, Jinen Nagase, took office last year when conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power and may lose his job on Monday when the embattled premier reshuffles his cabinet.
Amnesty International, which keeps records of death-row inmates and stays in contact with their families, identified the executed inmates as Hifumi Takezawa, 69, Kozo Segawa, 63, and Yoshio Iwamoto, 60.
Makoto Teranaka, the secretary general of Amnesty International Japan, said the three inmates, unlike many on death row, had not protested their death sentences after they were finalized.
"These three inmates were the ones we were worried about," Teranaka told AFP.
"It's a grave problem for Japan to maintain the death penalty despite rising opposition to it all over the world," he said. "The government's targeting of people in weak positions such as these three inmates is also problematic."
Wild Bunch Ping: Kill'em in the 1960s as fast as ya can!
Too bad we couldn’t “outsource” that convicted Florida child rapist murderer Couey to Japan for his punishment.
I’m surprised Japan has a death penalty. Some traditions die hard.
I read somewhere he had been scheduled to drop last March. I wonder why the delay?
As I understand it the Japanese take the death penalty very seriously. I may be wrong but I’ve heard that there’s no appeal and no date is given. They show up at a cell and announce that it will be carried out and it’s done within the hour.
“The government’s targeting of people in weak positions such as these three inmates is also problematic.”
These three inmates weren't "targeted," and the only reason they were in "weak positions" was because they had been convicted of the most heinous crimes and incarcerated.
The language of this feeble apology makes it sound like roving hordes of government executioners were prowling the streets shanghai-ing cripples and giving them necktie parties.
Damn, Teranaka has a black belt in blarney.
They hang them? I would have expected something a bit more elaborate from the Japanese.
I think death by hanging for criminals is a tradition that goes back several thousand years. This makes hanging a favored manner of execution for a culture which values tradition. Additionally, this even makes the choice of hanging sort of the frosting on the cake of capital punishment. Maybe we could have some hangings here?
I fully expected to hear that they beheaded them. Not that I disagree with that for a murderer.
The Japanese are capable of such depth of sensitivty, and equally capable of amazing brutality.
Short drop hanging. Slow strangulation, no clean neck snap.
“Japan is the only major industrialized nation other than the United States to practice the death penalty.”
“Short drop hanging. Slow strangulation, no clean neck snap.”
Iran does it that way, except they just wrap a cable around your neck and lift you straight up slowly four or five feet with a construction crane. The strangling/twitching is a real crowd pleaser and is usually done in multiples of two or three.
From the age of these perps, I'd guess they did their crimes about two decades ago, exhausted their appeals and were long overdue. The Japanese press generally waits a day or so to verify the facts before publishing any announcements, at which time the crimes of which they were convicted is also announced.
Wouldn't it be nice if murderers gave their victims 20 years or so to get their affairs in order before killing them?
Much less should those of us who are deserving of Hell. Which is ALL of us.
I’m not taking any pleasure in these deaths. Just reporting the facts.
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