Three down!

[sublight]

[sublight]

The Japan Times has more information today.

The three people executed Thursday were Yasutoshi Matsuda, 44, Tomoyuki Furusawa, 46, and Yasuaki Uwabe, 48.

Matsuda, hanged at the Fukuoka Detention House, was convicted of killing and robbing two women in Miyazaki Prefecture, in November and December 2001, for money he was going to spend for his own pleasure.

Furusawa, hanged at the Tokyo Detention House, was convicted of murdering his 12-year-old stepson and his estranged wife's parents in July 2002. He was also found guilty of confining his wife in Yokohama the month before out of suspicion that she was having an affair.

Uwabe, hanged at the Hiroshima Detention House, was convicted of running over seven people with a car, two of whom died, and slashing seven other people with a knife, killing three, at JR Shimonoseki Station in, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in September 1999.

[Russell]

[sublight]

Somehow I suspect that this is a political move to gather support among the population for his government. They must fear a lot of backlash from the increase of the consumption tax.

Higher consumption tax to compensate for bumped-off consumers?

[dimwit]

[SIZE="5"]Noda defends use of death penalty[/SIZE]


Somehow I suspect that this is a political move to gather support among the population for his government. They must fear a lot of backlash from the increase of the consumption tax.

They don't fear a public backlash, they are more worried about a backlash within their own party.

As for the death penalty being used to gain public support, I find this view rather dubious as most of the political parties have similar stances on the issue, so it doesn't represent a wedge. Furthermore, support or opposition to the death penalty is rarely a issue that makes people inclined to switch support.