Former Aum cultist publishes memoir on gas attacks, cult leader

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUu82Wnz-2IvNPcXXUKjZLqMkn7TqAnQH3vrlBrNcyvoNcoCoUaOhiq59i9SqKkMbGZLSQ1lMI9vzF4iGl9_z0DkqEdvBa6Tl_FjxoxJbSW1DWhkjB846HU_eCUWGDfZi08vAIh2ZICEc/s1600/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUu82Wnz-2IvNPcXXUKjZLqMkn7TqAnQH3vrlBrNcyvoNcoCoUaOhiq59i9SqKkMbGZLSQ1lMI9vzF4iGl9_z0DkqEdvBa6Tl_FjxoxJbSW1DWhkjB846HU_eCUWGDfZi08vAIh2ZICEc/s400/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" title="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995<br />killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">A former executive of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who helped manufacture the sarin gas that killed 13 people and sickened more than 6,000 on the Tokyo subway system in 1995 has published a memoir.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In it, Tomomasa Nakagawa, 54, a former medical doctor and now death-row inmate, reveals the method used by the cult to manufacture the deadly nerve gas and also discusses former Aum leader Shoko Asahara, whom he cared for.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“He was a criminal before (being regarded as) a religious leader in that he transformed a religious organization into a criminal enterprise,” Nakagawa noted about Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Matsumoto, 61, is also on death row.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.fr/2016/12/japan-ex-aum-cult-member-on-death-row.html" target="_blank">published the memoir in the November issue of Gendai Kagaku</a> (Chemistry Today), urged by Anthony Tu, professor emeritus at Colorado State University and an authority of toxicology.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tu, who wrote a book on the subway attacks and also a 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, that killed eight people and sickened about 600, has interviewed Nakagawa many times.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The cultist, whose death sentence was finalized in 2011, was involved in both sarin atrocities and also the abduction and murders of anti-Aum lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto and his family members in 1989.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the beginning of the memoir, whose main theme was “Why was (Aum) able to manufacture sarin?” Nakagawa apologizes to victims of the series of crimes committed by Aum cultists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As for Asahara's skill as a leader of yoga and meditation sessions, Nakagawa writes, “His capability was extremely high."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“There were no people who joined Aum to commit murders. Including me, those who put absolute trust in Asahara in the fields of yoga and meditation became involved in the (fatal) incidents,” Nakagawa recalls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also reveals the chemical formulas he says were used to manufacture the sarin, which the cult began producing in around 1992.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In January 1995, the media reported that police suspected Aum was behind the sarin attack in Matsumoto. The gas was sprayed in a residential area in June the previous year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aum members hurriedly disposed of several hundreds of tons of sarin and other chemical substances to prevent police from finding the stockpile, Nakagawa writes in the memoir.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“All of us were poisoned by sarin (while doing that). I was just about able to stand,” he recalls.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The sarin attacks on the Tokyo subway system were carried out on March 20, 1995.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa was one of the cultists who manufactured it, utilizing chemicals that were not disposed of in the January clearing out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa said in court that Yoshihiro Inoue, 47, also a former Aum executive and a death-row inmate, was responsible for storing the chemicals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, in a court ruling on a different former executive of Aum, it was stated keeping the chemicals was Nakagawa's job.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Whatever the reason, terrorism is always intolerable,” the memoir reads.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It concludes with, “The background (of the act) of joining dangerous religious or terrorist organizations and the background (of the act) of carrying out terror acts after joining those organizations should be distinguished.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Minoru Kariya, 56, the eldest son of Kiyoshi, a notary public who was also abducted and killed by Aum in 1995 at the age of 68, said that many bereaved families still have questions after listening to the remarks made by various Aum members in court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“If former executives of Aum release their memoirs, it could help clarify the facts (of the series of crimes committed by the organization),” said Kariya, who has repeatedly interviewed Inoue and Nakagawa.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201701100053.html" target="_blank">Asahi Shimbun</a>, January 10, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Former Aum cultist publishes memoir on gas attacks, cult leader

The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured. A former executive of t...

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Death Penalty Movie Week to be held at Tokyo theater

<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy8cBaDopv6QH5NFRtjD_Yzv3QA6q9Obivh6jEnbFTmUvsmSr67CDc9PrTf552UiFP28151oUp7xtrR00-wZqSFDrgSSplH7_OXthyphenhyphenD0GZ0K9pyLY1g6o8N64ZYjYW5_dTn3Kpg4kHRI/s1600/Former+death-row+inmate+Iwao+Hakamada+and+his+sister.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjy8cBaDopv6QH5NFRtjD_Yzv3QA6q9Obivh6jEnbFTmUvsmSr67CDc9PrTf552UiFP28151oUp7xtrR00-wZqSFDrgSSplH7_OXthyphenhyphenD0GZ0K9pyLY1g6o8N64ZYjYW5_dTn3Kpg4kHRI/s400/Former+death-row+inmate+Iwao+Hakamada+and+his+sister.jpg" title="Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release in March 2014</td></tr></tbody></table>TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The annual Death Penalty Movie Week will be held at a Tokyo theater in February, with eight films from home and abroad providing viewers with an opportunity to think about the "right to life."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The event will take place as pro- and anti-death penalty groups have been facing off at symposiums and on other occasions since the Japan Federation of Bar Associations declared in October it would work for the abolition of capital punishment by 2020.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The eight films to be screened include 2005 German movie "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426578/" target="_blank">Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days</a>," which depicts the anti-Nazi struggle of a student who was executed, and "Freedom Moon," produced in Japan in 2016, that recounts the life of death row inmate Iwao Hakamada.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hakamada, convicted of a 1966 quadruple murder, was released in 2014 after a court decided to reopen the case.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The film shows how his mental state has deteriorated due to decades-long solitary confinement and the endless fear of execution.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">South Korean popular movie "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2659414/" target="_blank">Miracle in Cell No. 7</a>," produced in 2013, will also be screened during the sixth event.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Murder victims are deprived of their lives unjustifiably, but offenders are also robbed of their 'right to live' under capital punishment," said Masakuni Ota, one of the event organizers. "People seem to accept such circumstances without question, at a time when exclusion and intolerance are prevalent around the world."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During the event from Feb. 18 to 24 at the Eurospace movie theater in Tokyo's Shibuya district, four movies will be shown each day, accompanied by sessions with guest speakers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The scheduled speakers include actress Kirin Kiki, who played the mother of a death row inmate in a movie based on a true story, and pop singer Tsuyoshi Ujiki, whose father was convicted of war crimes after World War II.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We welcome both those seeking abolition of the death penalty and those who support or accept capital punishment" so the issue is discussed from various viewpoints, Ota said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The previous five Death Penalty Movie Week events attracted a total of around 6,000 viewers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the four years since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power, 17 inmates have been hanged, with a government survey showing over 80 percent of people in Japan support the death penalty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the other hand, Tokyo was urged by the U.N. Human Rights Committee in 2014 to "give due consideration to the abolition of the death penalty."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Currently, more than two-thirds of nations have abolished the death penalty by law or in practice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For further information on the screenings, call Eurospace at 03-3461-0211 or check its website at <a href="http://www.eurospace.co.jp/" target="_blank">http://www.eurospace.co.jp/</a></div><br />Source: Mainichi, January 3, 2017<br /><br /><br /><h2>Hakamada: Tapes point to police duress in miscarriage of justice</h2><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8vj-u4mA02VRwROPa4sr8grOzhtYYHKjaBJd4YSJsFC8IhcTKrEgvqcY8Yt8LyzUy96Ci-Ht9mqZvJjLB_KV8pNigT2V_nN3t_ABNgXLifi_bu_WhtyY4a9-jj-vNxxFPCmPdD9bpnk/s1600/Iwao+Hakamada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Iwao Hakamada (left) spent more than three decades on death row." border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8vj-u4mA02VRwROPa4sr8grOzhtYYHKjaBJd4YSJsFC8IhcTKrEgvqcY8Yt8LyzUy96Ci-Ht9mqZvJjLB_KV8pNigT2V_nN3t_ABNgXLifi_bu_WhtyY4a9-jj-vNxxFPCmPdD9bpnk/s400/Iwao+Hakamada.jpg" title="Iwao Hakamada (left) spent more than three decades on death row." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iwao Hakamada (left) spent more than three decades on death row.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Police records of interrogations that led to Iwao Hakamada being wrongfully convicted of multiple slayings show that the one-time death row inmate was not allowed to use the restroom as officers relentlessly tried to force him to confess.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Just two days later, Hakamada, now 80, confessed to killing a family of four and setting fire to their home in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1966.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A former professional boxer, Hakamada spent more than three decades on death row. He was released in March 2014 after the Shizuoka District Court ordered a retrial, having concluded that his conviction was likely based on faked evidence.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Defense lawyers pressing for an early retrial presented documents to the Tokyo High Court on Dec. 21, highlighting apparent brazen violations of procedures during Hakamada's interrogation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The high court is weighing whether to hear Hakamada’s case. Prosecutors have appealed the district court decision.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hakamada, who is from Hamamatsu in the prefecture, had his death penalty finalized in 1980.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Defense lawyers said 24 tape recordings of Hakamada being questioned were discovered at the police storage room in October 2014.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The tapes recorded interrogations between his arrest on Aug. 18, 1966, and late September that year after he was indicted. The lawyers played the tapes to get a better grasp of how the interrogation was carried out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They said a session on Sept. 4 was particularly problematic as it appeared Hakamada was deprived of the use of restroom facilities, as he later testified in court.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the tape, an investigator trying to get him to confess, says, “It must be the case.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After more exchanges with the investigator, Hakamada says, “I would like to use the bathroom.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The investigator responds, “Why don’t you reply (to my question) before doing so?”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lawyers said the recording makes clear that Hakamada had to urinate inside the interrogation room.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Get a lavatory pan. Let him urinate here,” the interrogator is heard saying.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During his trial at the Shizuoka District Court in December 1967, Hakamada testified that he was forced to urinate in the interrogation room.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I was not permitted to go to restroom on many occasions,” he said. “I was not permitted to do it properly.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The interrogator in question denied Hakamada’s account when he appeared in court as a witness in 1968.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“There never was such a thing,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The defense team also said that among the tapes were recordings of conversations between Hakamada and his lawyers, suggesting that the police eavesdropped on them.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lawyers argued that the investigators violated various laws in the course of establishing the case against Hakamada and during his trial. This, they said, was further ammunition for an early retrial.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Forcing a suspect to urinate in the interrogation room constituted assault and cruelty by special pubic officers, and eavesdropping and recording interviews between defense lawyers and a client constituted an act of malpractice, they noted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They also noted that lying in court constitutes perjury.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201612220063.html" target="_blank">The Asahi Shimbun</a>, December 22, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Death Penalty Movie Week to be held at Tokyo theater

Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release in March 2014 TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The annual Death Penalty Movie Week will be held at a...

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129 inmates on death row in Japan at end of 2016

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6EoRPwsy-jk_gDUBlGLBqvCvISafQotincyMleAbJY7LCathKKHFtwO7Kj2lo7fvF2wUIEmoSRjrB2fVUVD2jTM-13hbhsYgIGiawqTNfEEf8ofUu_h9AMwtI4MGR57mUabRQKvSV-0/s1600/japan+tokyo+death+chamber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gallows at Tokyo Detention Center" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC6EoRPwsy-jk_gDUBlGLBqvCvISafQotincyMleAbJY7LCathKKHFtwO7Kj2lo7fvF2wUIEmoSRjrB2fVUVD2jTM-13hbhsYgIGiawqTNfEEf8ofUu_h9AMwtI4MGR57mUabRQKvSV-0/s400/japan+tokyo+death+chamber.jpg" title="Gallows at Tokyo Detention Center" width="333" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gallows at Tokyo Detention Center</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">TOKYO — The number of death row inmates in Japan in 2016 was 129 on Saturday, a rise of two people from 2015, while continuing to surpass the threshold of 100 since 2007.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Three inmates were executed during the year, while seven people were given the death penalty, the Ministry of Justice told Kyodo News.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of the total figure, 128 people are officially registered as inmates at detention centers. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Iwao Hakamada, 80, a former professional boxer convicted in the murder of four people in 1966, was released in 2014 after a court decided to open a retrial.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yasutoshi Kamata, 75, who was convicted of murdering a 9-year-old girl in Osaka and four women between 1985 and 1994, was put to death in March. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Junko Yoshida, 56, a former nurse who masterminded two murders for insurance money in 1998 and 1999 in Fukuoka Prefecture, was also executed in March.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In November, Kenichi Tajiri, 45, who killed two women in two murder-robbery cases in 2004 and 2011 in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, was hanged, according to the ministry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The seven people newly sentenced to death last year include 25-year-old Yutaro Chiba, who in July became the first to be given capital punishment under the lay judge trial system for a crime committed by a teenager. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chiba was convicted of murdering two women in 2010 when he was 18 years old.</div><br />Source: Japan Times, January 1, 2017<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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129 inmates on death row in Japan at end of 2016

Gallows at Tokyo Detention Center TOKYO — The number of death row inmates in Japan in 2016 was 129 on Saturday, a rise of two people from 20...

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EU calls on Japan to abolish death penalty

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7iSKq9iJbb7njmjvXMk7sGEsR5Vu9msu1hoW7TDh4wdjiCJXB5vk3E4TQZ2MlTkQy4fcvDwkqsMHeUUg5LbOy_LgoA6hry1rRYfqXe6NVhZcclfg1joeHrN1CTQEorSzplOruJdl88Q/s1600/Gallows+trap+door+at+an+execution+chamber+at+the+Tokyo+Detention+Center+in+Tokyo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gallows trap door, Tokyo Detention Center" border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7iSKq9iJbb7njmjvXMk7sGEsR5Vu9msu1hoW7TDh4wdjiCJXB5vk3E4TQZ2MlTkQy4fcvDwkqsMHeUUg5LbOy_LgoA6hry1rRYfqXe6NVhZcclfg1joeHrN1CTQEorSzplOruJdl88Q/s400/Gallows+trap+door+at+an+execution+chamber+at+the+Tokyo+Detention+Center+in+Tokyo.jpg" title="Gallows trap door, Tokyo Detention Center" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gallows trap door, Tokyo Detention Center</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">TOKYO — The European Union has called on Japan to abolish the death penalty, saying “it is a key priority of our external human rights policy” to work towards its universal elimination to protect human dignity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“As friends, we have an obligation to speak up. Application of the death penalty in Japan, in the 21st century, is running against the global trend,” said Francesco Fini, EU Delegation minister to Japan. “We hope that Japan will finally join the big and growing family of countries without the death penalty.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He made the comments in a speech at a Tokyo symposium on capital punishment sponsored by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The federation is seeking the abolition of the death penalty by 2020, when the U.N. Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will be held in Japan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fini said governments are obliged under international law “not to impose cruel and unusual punishment even on the worst criminals” in view of the fundamental human dignity of every person, “even on someone who has committed the most atrocious crime.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said it has not been proved that the “death penalty has a direct correlation with reducing serious crime, or that abolishing it increases serious crime.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fini also noted that while no court system is perfect, the death penalty is irreversible. “If a mistake is made, and then discovered, a person who was wrongfully executed can never be brought back.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Commenting on a government survey that shows more than 80 percent of people in Japan support the death penalty, Fini said “public opinion can change, and depends on information, courage and leadership.” The history of the abolition of the death penalty in Europe “was driven by brave women and men that exercised leadership to inform the public.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Legal experts and lawmakers also joined the symposium. Maiko Tagusari, a Tokyo-based lawyer, said, “We cannot avoid miscarriages of justice, as our legal system is operated by human beings. And it is impossible to make a distinction between those who should be executed and those who should not.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tagusari also said that support for the death penalty in Japan may change as a result of the introduction of the lay judge system in 2009, in which six citizens join three professional judges to deliberate serious crimes, including capital cases.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">People are “now obliged to directly face the worst criminals in court as lay judges,” she said, adding that those with criminal justice knowledge need to help educate the public.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sayaka Sasaki, an upper house member from the Komeito party, a coalition partner of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told the symposium that many people believe judges never make mistakes and that prosecutors only indict the guilty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45nU0lY7nAgnMDfsdeemW-sy0mpnb_XJKWzQpsxELDc17CWi3xS6wwqe8J2t0SU_XMjA0i5cfQ90-kLu8JEqnxDn4_3GR9lFNilopKq1zLkbzUrrsP7LTxz1UwCIGaD1v4hIVTtmzagM/s1600/european-flags-outside-european-commission-headquarters-brussels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj45nU0lY7nAgnMDfsdeemW-sy0mpnb_XJKWzQpsxELDc17CWi3xS6wwqe8J2t0SU_XMjA0i5cfQ90-kLu8JEqnxDn4_3GR9lFNilopKq1zLkbzUrrsP7LTxz1UwCIGaD1v4hIVTtmzagM/s320/european-flags-outside-european-commission-headquarters-brussels.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EU: "A strong position against the death penalty"</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">“But we need to have a common recognition that they also make mistakes” in thinking about how to deal with the capital punishment system, Sasaki said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Japan, anti-death penalty campaigners sometimes come into collision with crime victims or their bereaved families.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Referring to victims and their families, EU’s Fini said, “We should do everything we can to alleviate” their emotional burden.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He also said, however, that “using the victims’ families’ legitimate grief to justify executions, and taking a life as a response to crime is just fulfilling a cycle of misery.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Japan has faced international criticism over capital punishment, with the U.N. Human Rights Committee in 2014 urging Japan to “give due consideration to the abolition of the death penalty.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tokyo most recently hanged an inmate on Nov. 11—the 17th execution in almost four years during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s current term as Japanese leader.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The move prompted the EU Delegation to issue a statement together with the heads of mission of EU member states and the heads of mission of Norway and Switzerland saying, “We hold a strong and principled position against the death penalty and we are opposed to the use of capital punishment under any circumstances.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the symposium, Shinji Oguma, a lower house member from the main opposition Democratic Party, said “maintaining the death penalty has ruined the image of Japan, as the international community thinks Japan does not share the same values” at a time when more than two-thirds of nations have abolished the death penalty by law or in practice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It calls into question how Japan should be when we think about how to deal with the death penalty,” he said.</div><br />Source: <a href="https://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/eu-calls-on-japan-to-abolish-death-penalty" target="_blank">Japan Today</a>, December 21, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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EU calls on Japan to abolish death penalty

Gallows trap door, Tokyo Detention Center TOKYO — The European Union has called on Japan to abolish the death penalty, saying “it is a key p...

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Japan: Ex-Aum cult member on death row calls founder 'criminal' in memoir

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJiSdP8dnYiUFtD1Ron9mY5maQB9m9eoNCHoy0erITRhA8Zcj8aPEkLome6LaDzlfSvtT7lWWcjKXuFLMr4oZMkjEkHjmHGPqlZ-R7mxUF9PC0oDX9Mcya1RbFBhEWttC6Rh_RJkliTk/s1600/Former+leader+of+the+Aum+Shinrikyo+cult+Shoko+Asahara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara" border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOJiSdP8dnYiUFtD1Ron9mY5maQB9m9eoNCHoy0erITRhA8Zcj8aPEkLome6LaDzlfSvtT7lWWcjKXuFLMr4oZMkjEkHjmHGPqlZ-R7mxUF9PC0oDX9Mcya1RbFBhEWttC6Rh_RJkliTk/s400/Former+leader+of+the+Aum+Shinrikyo+cult+Shoko+Asahara.jpg" title="Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">TOKYO — A former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who is on death row has described the founder and “guru” he once revered, Shoko Asahara, as a “criminal” in a recently published memoir.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomomasa Nakagawa, convicted for his role in producing sarin used in the deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, said in the six-page article in the November edition of Japanese magazine Chemistry Today that Asahara transformed what was otherwise a religious group into one that produced chemical weapons and perpetrated murder.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The terror attack on the subway system killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the memoir, Nakagawa, 54, referred to the founder as “Mr Asahara” and said he “chose those who deeply trusted him and ordered them to take actions” such as committing murder and manufacturing chemical weapons.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said Asahara’s “ability to lead yoga and meditation was extremely high” and that none of the cult members, including himself, imagined they would become involved in such actions as killing when they joined the group.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa’s death sentence was finalized in 2011. The 61-year-old Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is also still on death row.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His memoir also carried a personal apology to victims of the attack, as well as details of sarin production.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nakagawa decided to write the article after being encouraged by Anthony Tu, a Colorado State University emeritus professor and toxicologist researching a string of incidents involving the cult. Tu, 86, has been visiting Nakagawa while in prison since 2011.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcU4hqyrzogH3c9F2INBaIpELQoju0u1pYlxaRGEw5uXHjI1hwrXpqrjO06VGsHSUs7IwlCYBIm0re11AeiAgc43Op-uH2fLnRQ0Mo57T7Ci3VIpoXsZ04oXJT1_L6e2ja_8IentR_UlQ/s1600/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 injured." border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcU4hqyrzogH3c9F2INBaIpELQoju0u1pYlxaRGEw5uXHjI1hwrXpqrjO06VGsHSUs7IwlCYBIm0re11AeiAgc43Op-uH2fLnRQ0Mo57T7Ci3VIpoXsZ04oXJT1_L6e2ja_8IentR_UlQ/s400/Tokyo+Subway+Sarin+Gas+Attack.jpg" title="The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 killed 13 and left more than 6,000 injured." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995<br />killed 13 and left more than 6,000 people injured.</td></tr></tbody></table>Nakagawa recounted that after succeeding in manufacturing about 30 kilograms of sarin compound in February 1994, they spread about 12 liters of it in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture in June that year. This eventually resulted in a “major incident,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Aum Shinrikyo is also known for having staged a sarin gas attack in a residential area of Matsumoto in central Japan on June 27, 1994, which killed eight people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In producing sarin, one needs to have graduate school-level knowledge and experience in chemistry, and special equipment and systems must be in place to treat those who may have been poisoned by sarin, Nakagawa said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He added, however, that it is hard now to obtain raw materials for sarin production and ruled out the possibility of another terror attack with sarin in Japan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“If the investigative authorities pay close attention, it would be nearly impossible for such an act to be carried out,” Nakagawa said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Death sentences have been finalized for 10 members of the cult in connection with the attack and other crimes, while sentences of life in prison have been finalized for four others.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2000, Aum Shinrikyo was renamed Aleph. In 2007, senior Alegh member Fumihiro Joyu left the group to establish a separate group—Hikarinowa, or the Circle of Rainbow.</div><br />Source: Japan Today, December 18, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Japan: Ex-Aum cult member on death row calls founder 'criminal' in memoir

Former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult Shoko Asahara TOKYO — A former senior member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult who is on death row has descr...

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