Japan hangs 2 on death row; 1st executions in year

[mike r]

Source: Associated Press

TOKYO – Japan hanged two convicted killers Wednesday, including a man who burned six women to death, in the country's first executions in a year, and the justice minister said she wants renewed debate on whether to continue the punishment.

The justice ministry said Kazuo Shinozawa, 59, was hanged at the Tokyo Detention Center. Shinozawa set fire on a jewelry shop in 2000, burning six women to death. The second death row inmate, Hidenori Ogata, 33, also was hanged at the Tokyo Detention Center. He strangled a woman and stabbed a man to death in 2003.

Japan, along with the United States, is one of the few industrialized countries that still has capital punishment. There is little public outcry against the death penalty in Japan. Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, formerly a member of a group of lawmakers opposed to the death penalty, witnessed the executions and said afterward that she wanted a new study group to spur debate on the punishment, including whether it should be abolished in Japan. "Witnessing the executions with my own eyes made me think deeply about the death penalty," Chiba told a news conference...

Japan's media are not allowed to cover executions. But following Wednesday's executions, Chiba said that should change. Criminals can be left on death row for years in Japan, and executions — all carried out by hanging — are highly secretive. Inmates do not know when they will be executed, while lawyers and family are only told after the fact. Japan has 107 death row inmates, the ministry said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100728/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_execution

[Jack_DeLeon]

1. Sounds good.

hanging should be our method of execution.

[proteus_lives]

3. Cheaper and more humane then lethal injection.

[depakid]

4. Keeping them on death row for years and years without knowing what day they'll be executed

and not informing the families and lawyers?

[proteus_lives]

I was talking about the method.

Hanging.

I don't see the logic of not informing of the execution date. To prevent suicide/escape attempts? Those are the only reasons I can thing of, off the top of my head.

[proteus_lives]

5. Dupe.

[slackmaster]

9. I believe the purpose is to instill terror in the condemned, and to make the DP seem scarier

The old "deterrence" theory.

Or maybe it's a vestige of Japan's cultural savagery.

[depakid]

19. Sounds more like torture to me

and yes, Japan has a long history of such things.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. I prefer the European method.

i.e., none.

They seem to be doing all right with that.

[JonLP24]

12. I agree

The simple fact that "tough on crime" assholes like Andrew Thomas can and do ask for DP is enough to be against it. I was in tears reading about a day care worker that never had any trouble, not even a traffic ticket in years, was facing the DP because Andrew Thomas asked for it. Turns out there are quite a few medical possibilities that could of resulted in the infants death that wasn't abuse and the prosecutors in the case had no choice but to drop the charges.

On top of that the racial disparities, the fact executed people were later found innocent, etc. should be enough but most people don't care.

[proteus_lives]

13. It's a matter of opinion.

I have no problem with rapists and murderers being executed.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. And with them NOT being executed, like in 14 (?) US states, do you have a problem?

[proteus_lives]

17. No, it's the choice of the people.

Not the choice I'd make but it's still a legit choice.

[bluestateguy]

2. They have the DP, but also a statute of limitations on murder

If a murder suspect in Japan is not arrested after 25 years, the statute of limitations kicks in. It actually used to be only 15 years.

[Swede]

6. Japan executes two convicted killers

Source: Stoppressnews

So what did happen in Japan today? Two convicted murderers were executed they were both hanged. One man, Hidenori Ogata, was put to death for killing 2 people. The other man, Kazuo Shinozawa, killed 6 women and then set fire to their place of work. The hangings were the first to be carried out under the new government that took over last year.

Read more: http://www.stoppressnews.com/japan-executes-two-convicted-killers/231250/

[Jkid]

7. I thought the new government did a temporary halt to the executions

Guess they did that just to distract people.

[slackmaster]

8. They lied

[mitchum]

10. Who said the Japanese aren't well hung?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. This was atrocious. 56,697 levels of wrong.

:thumbsup:

[formercia]

18. Obviously, they didn't have a hung jury.

IMHO

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

15. "the justice minister said she wants renewed debate on whether to continue the punishment"

Can you imagine the RW shitstorm if the US AG uttered such a thing?

[Ross K]

20. Waitaminute.....

...I thought we were the only major industrialized country retaining the death penalty. :shrug:

[Angleae]

21. Not quite.

Afghanistan
Algeria ***
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh *
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin ***
Bolivia **
Botswana *
Brazil **
Brunei Darussalam ***
Burkina Faso ***
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic ***
Chad
China *
Comoros
Congo ***
Congo, Democratic Republic
Cook Islands **
Cuba
Dominica
Egypt *
El Salvador **
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea ***
Ethiopia
Fiji **
Gabon ***
Gambia ***
Ghana ***
Grenada ***
Guatemala
Guinea
Guyana
India
Indonesia
Iran *
Iraq *
Israel **
Jamaica
Japan *
Jordan
Kazakhstan **
Kenya ***
Korea, North *
Korea, South ***
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan **
Laos ***
Latvia **
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia ***
Libya *
Madagascar ***
Malawi ***
Malaysia *
Maldives ***
Mali ***
Mauritania ***
Mongolia
Morocco ***
Myanmar ***
Nauru ***
Niger ***
Nigeria
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian Authority
Papua New Guinea ***
Peru **
Qatar
Russia ***
Saudi Arabia *
Sierra Leone
Singapore *
Somalia
Sri Lanka ***
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Sudan *
Suriname ***
Swaziland ***
Syria *
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan ***
Tanzania ***
Thailand *
Togo ***
Tonga ***
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia ***
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
United States *
Vietnam *
Yemen *
Zambia ***
Zimbabwe

* = Performed executions recently.
** = Allowed for exceptional crimes such as military law or during wartime
*** = Hasn't executed anyone for 10+ years but law still on the books

Source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html

[Ross K]

23. I said "major industrialized"

Why must you hurt me??? :cry:

[Angleae]

24. "Major industrialized" means different things to different people.

So I used the complete list.

[Bombero1956]

22. More Japanese "research" ?

testing out the length of the average Japanese male's neck or the tensile strength of the rope. :sarcasm: