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Japan executes three prisoners on death row, first since 2019

Tuesday, 21 December 2021 11:30 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 21 December 2021 11:30 AM ]

Elderly inmates perform a slow-paced exercise in a special building set aside for elderly unable to do regular prison factory work, at the Tokushima prison in Tokushima, Japan, on March 2, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

Japan has hanged three death row inmates, in the country’s first executions since December 2019, amid growing criticism of its use of the death penalty.

The three men were identified by Japan’s leading news agency Kyoyo News as Yasutaka Fujishiro, 65, Tomoaki Takanezawa, 54, and Mitsunori Onogawa, 44.

Japan’s justice ministry said Fujishiro murdered seven of his relatives in 2004, while Takanezawa and Onogawa were convicted of killing two employees of a pinball parlour in 2003.

"These are extremely brutal cases, taking precious lives for selfish reasons. I think these are terrible incidents not only for victims who lost their lives but also for bereaved families," Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The executions, which took place on Tuesday morning, were the first under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who took office in October through a general election.

Despite scathing criticism from international rights groups campaigning to abolish the practice, capital punishment continues to have popular support in Japan.

"The abolition of the death penalty is an important issue relating to the foundation of the Japanese criminal justice system," Japan’s deputy chief cabinet secretary Seiji Kihara at a news conference.

"It is not easy to decide on the death penalty, but considering that these crimes are still going on, I don't believe it is appropriate to abolish the death penalty,” he added.

Japan executed three death row inmates on 26 December 2019, and 15 a year before that, including 13 members of a group that had attacked Tokyo subway in 1995.

More than 100 inmates are currently on the death row, which is usually implemented long after sentencing.

Japan is one of the few developed nations that has kept the death penalty, despite growing calls for its abolition from the European Union and local and global human rights groups.

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