Japan hangs two convicted killers


Two death-rom inmates were hanged Thursday in the fourth round of executions since the launch last December of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, Justice Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said. Hanged were Mitsuo Fujishima, 55, who murdered two people, in Yamanashi and Niigata prefectures, in 1986, and Ryoji Kagayama, 63, who murdered two people in Osaka, in 2000 and 2008, Tanigaki said at a press conference. The latest hangings brought the total number of inmates executed under the Abe adminsitration to eight.  

Two inmates hanged, bringing to eight the number of prisoners executed under Shinzo Abe’s government this year. Surveys in Japan have showed the death penalty has overwhelming public support despite repeated protests from European governments and human rights groups. Japan now has 129 inmates on death row, according to justice ministry data. Amnesty International Japan criticized the executions, saying “the high-paced executions under the Abe administration stands squarely against repeated international calls for abolition of death penalty. Tokyo did not executive anyone in 2011. International advocacy groups say the system is cruel because inmates can wait for their executions for many years in solitary confinement and are only told of their impending ddeath a few hours ahead of time.  Source AFP

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