The Man Who Wouldn't Hang

[Mulboyne]

Although the Japanese press reports on Sugiura's comments focus on the speedy U-turn, overseas commentators are wondering whether Japan may move to abolish capital punishment.

Guardian: Justice minister in death penalty retreat
Japan's new justice minister was forced into an embarrassing retreat yesterday, less than 24 hours after he said he would refuse to sign execution orders because he opposes the death penalty...But his remarks fuelled speculation that Japan, one of two G7 nations - the other is the US - to retain the death penalty, would review its stance on capital punishment. "In the long term I have the feeling we will move towards abolition," he said after his appointment...more...

[Mulboyne]

[Greji]

LATimes: Awaiting Death's Footsteps

"....He is 75 now, with watery eyes, a ghost of the 24-year-old who was living under bridges in 1954 when he says police beat a false confession out of him that he had raped and murdered a schoolgirl...."

How you ever noticed how all of the convicted murders were beaten by the police until they confessed? Does it seem conceivable in a country that is not bashful about lengthening your neck with hemp, that all of these innocent suspects who are being beaten by the police will scream "I did it"? If this beating process is the Police SOP, what happens to the suspects who do not confess? The procurators will very seldom take a case to trial without a confession and then the evidence has to be pretty damn incriminating, even so there are only occasional confessionless convictions.

First of all it must be a pretty bad beating to make a guy say "okay I did it, hang me, but just stop the beating". Secondly, if this is the norm why don't the ones who don't confess and/or are released say something? Wouldn't they make some comment about it e.g. "hey man , they really beat my ass into the pavement". It would seem that this would be bound to come out these days, if this were happening with any regularity. But, you don't hear of it. Sure, minor things here and there, but not trying to beat a guy into death row!

Just a random thought after reading that article!

[Mulboyne]

First of all it must be a pretty bad beating to make a guy say "okay I did it, hang me, but just stop the beating". Secondly, if this is the norm why don't the ones who don't confess and/or are released say something?

I don't think it takes a beating to get a confession. The psychological pressure of incarceration can induce a sense of hopelessness too. People do win on appeal and those cases have been attracting more press coverage as the reputation of the police has been taking some knocks over the past few years. A similar trend occurred in the UK during the 70's.

Not a murder, and this guy didn't confess but it is interesting to look at his treatment in a chikan case. He's just won his appeal against a lower court conviction.

Asahi: Wrongly accused of groping, man seeks to regain lost time

...Judge Kunio Harada also cited sloppiness in the work of the investigators, and said they might have even misled the victim into believing the man was the culprit... The police didn't believe him. They held him in detention for 105 days, and he was indicted on an indecency charge...more...

[Leslie!]

Christ what a terrible ordeal. Why don't they allow the prisoner and his family to know the date of execution?

[Greji]

Not a murder, and this guy didn't confess but it is interesting to look at his treatment in a chikan case. He's just won his appeal against a lower court conviction.

Asahi: Wrongly accused of groping, man seeks to regain lost time

That's an interesting case type comparison for different reasons. The police in a murder case are under unbelievable pressure from all levels to get a confession from anybody they can find. On the other hand, since chikan is so common, they automatically consider anyone accused guilty and "deserving" of the chance to confess. So, on one hand the murder suspect is being compeled to confess (whether he did it or not, is the danger) because of the political and public pressure and the hand, the chikan senmon has also got to confess because everyone already knows that he must have done it.

There are some groups for falsely accused chikan people around, but because of the noteriety those cases get, they have not been able to provide much than moral support to the innocent who have been accused.

There are probably a lot of you how remember that one famous case a few years back, where the girl accused the guy of chikan on the train. He was convicted, lost his job, lost his wife and family. Generally lost it all. Then several months later (I don't remember the exact details as to why), the girl re-canted and gave a statement to the police that she had made the whole story up. Even with that the guy was unable to get his job back, or the loss of moneys, I doubt he wanted the wife back, who had dumped him.

Sad state of affairs!

[Ketou]

I was watching a news program the other morning that was discussing the case of the guy who had been arrested for groping. The Lawyer/Celebrity Hashimoto Toru talked about how he felt the Japanese judgment system was lacking and of the need to introduce jury based judgments.
It was good to hear a Japanese lawyer expressing the need for change in the legal system.

[Mulboyne]

BBC: Four prisoners executed in Japan

Four prisoners on death row in Japan have been hanged, the country's justice ministry has said. They are the country's first executions under Japan's new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. Japan, like the United States, is one of the world's few developed countries to exercise capital punishment. It has been reported that those hanged included a taxi driver convicted of four murders. The last hanging in Japan was in September 2005. The inmates have been identified as Yoshimitsu Akiyama, Yoshio Fujinami, Michio Fukuoka and Hiroaki Hidaka. Kyodo News and Jiji Press report that Hidaka, a taxi driver in Hiroshima, was convicted of murdering a girl and three women. Akiyama, 77, was said to be the oldest and had spent the longest time of the four on death row, having been sentenced in 1987, Kyodo added.

Under former Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura, no execution orders were signed during his 11 months in office, because he said they went against his Buddhist beliefs. But he was replaced by Jinen Nagase three months ago, when Mr Abe took office. Japan has faced international criticism for giving inmates little notice that they will be executed, so as to prevent last-minute appeals. Amnesty International's Japan office has issued a statement condemning the executions. Critics have also noted that Japan conducts executions while parliament is in recess, allegedly to avoid debate on the topic. The last session of parliament ended on Tuesday.

Merry Christmas

[Iraira]

Report: Japan death verdicts increase December 31, 2006
TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Japanese courts sentenced 44 people to death in 2006, the largest number in at least 26 years, amid a toughening of sentences for violent crimes, a news report said Sunday.

The 44 death sentences were the most since at least 1980 -- the earliest year for which statistics were available -- and brought the total number of people on Japan's death row to 94, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.

The higher number of capital sentences appeared to be due to a toughening of sentences out of consideration for the victims of violent crimes and their families, the Nihon Keizai said. A spate of such crimes from 2000 to 2004 also appeared to be a factor, it said.

Violent crimes are relatively rare in Japan, which has one of the lowest crime rates among advanced nations. However, crime has risen steadily in recent years as the country has struggled to recover from an economic slowdown.

Executions, conducted by hanging, are also relatively rare. The government is extremely secretive about the death penalty and tends to carry out hangings without prior notice and when Parliament is not in session. Four men were executed on Christmas Day.

Phones rang unanswered Sunday at the Justice Ministry.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/31/japan.deathsentences.ap/index.html

Who would expect anyone to be at the Justice Ministry on a Sunday?

[FG Lurker]

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/31/japan.deathsentences.ap/index.html

Who would expect anyone to be at the Justice Ministry on a Sunday?

I laughed when I read that as well. Not just on a Sunday though, but on December 31st!

[Behan]

Three inmates sent to gallows; 99 left on death row

By JUN HONGO
Staff writer
The Justice Ministry hanged three death-row inmates Friday in the second set of executions in four months, drawing quick protests from lawmakers and human rights groups opposed to capital punishment.

The inmates sent to the gallows by Justice Minister Jinen Nagase were Kosaku Nada, 56, at the Osaka Detention House, Yoshikatsu Oda, 59, at the Fukuoka Detention House and Masahiro Tanaka, 42, at the Tokyo Detention House.

The hangings preceded a stretch of national holidays that starts Saturday, and Amnesty International Japan called the executions "an attempt (by Nagase) to shut down any debate at the Diet."...

Makoto Teranaka, secretary general of Amnesty International Japan, told reporters Friday's three hangings "were likely conducted to reduce the number of death-row inmates" -- after headlines were made when the number topped 100 last year -- and lacked prudent judgment.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20070428a2.html

[Taro Toporific]

I laughed when I read that as well. Not just on a Sunday though, but on December 31st!

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20070428a2.html...The hangings preceded a stretch of national holidays that starts Saturday, and Amnesty International Japan called the executions "an attempt (by Nagase) to shut down any debate at the Diet."....

Hmm, that gives me a great idea to keep a record of the hangin' days and pre-write a report about this pattern for the next holiday.

[Iraira]

TOKYO - Japan executed three men for murder Friday, including a convicted rapist who stabbed to death a previous victim in revenge for testifying against him, the government said.

Prison officials hanged Takashi Mochida in Tokyo, Masahiko Matsubara in the western city of Osaka, and Keishi Nago in southern Fukuoka, the ministry said in a statement.

Friday's executions were the second since the Justice Ministry started disclosing identities of the executed and details of their crimes, following calls for more transparency. The last executions — also of three men — were in December.

Mochida, 65, was executed for the 1997 murder of a woman he had raped eight years earlier. The ministry said the murder was in revenge for reporting the rape, for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Matsubara, 63, was convicted of killing, raping and robbing two women in separate cases in 1988 after he broke into their homes.

In one case, he knocked a 61-year-old woman on the floor, strangled her with an electrical chord, raped her and stole $260. About two months later, Matsubara broke into another home and strangled, raped and robbed a 44-year-old woman.

Nago, 37, was convicted of stabbing to death his brother's 40-year-old wife and 17-year-old daughter with a dozen thrusts with a sashimi knife. He also attacked his brother's 13-year-old son, but the boy survived.

Last year, Japan executed nine convicts.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_re_as/japan_executions

[ttjereth]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/ap_on_re_as/japan_executions

Hanging is too good for all three of them. should have been gut shot and left to die slowly.

P.S. I think this may have been the first post I've ever seen from you that was totally serious. Congratulations/condolences as may be appropriate.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[Greji]

".....bucking a trend away from the death penalty across Asia....."

Leave it to the US media. I would have to see some facts about this Asia trend. Normally, the media carries the pleas of mothers and families of "Spare my son (or daughter) to some Asian court. No where have I seen references to the kindly courts around Asia sparing the various fgs and others picked up for dumb in public with priors....

"The number of killings is declining," says Ryosuke Matsuura, who leads Amnesty International's campaign against the death penalty in Japan.

That is primarily because Japan has never minded stretching a neck or two, if the case(s) have warranted it....

[Behan]

By MINORU MATSUTANI
Staff writer
Four convicted murderers were hanged Thursday, the first executions this year and maintaining the fast pace that saw 15 people put to death in 2008, an unusually high number for one year.

It was the second set of execution orders signed by Justice Minister Eisuke Mori, who sent two inmates to the gallows Oct. 28. He assumed the post Sept. 24. "I just conducted my duty as the justice minister," Mori said at a news conference.

Executions have been on the rise in recent years...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20090130a1.html

Wonder if they'll ever catch up with these executin' guvnahs?

[Behan]