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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Japan SC: Double-killer as minor will face gallows

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Death Chamber
at Tokyo Detention Center
The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty Monday for a man convicted of strangling and then raping a young mother and murdering her 11-month-old daughter in 1999 in Yamaguchi Prefecture when he was 18.

The high-profile trial has sparked a lengthy legal debate over whether someone who committed such extremely cruel acts as a minor should be sent to the gallows. Initial lower court trials resulted in life imprisonment.

The top court's 1st Petty Bench, presided over by Justice Seishi Kanetsuki, branded the crime "very evil" and said hanging is "inevitable," as there was no room for leniency even though the defendant, Takayuki Otsuki, was a minor when he committed the crimes.

Otsuki was 18 years and one month old at the time of the crimes, thus his name was withheld because he was a minor. But with Monday's top court ruling, it has been made public.

The Juvenile Law stipulates that someone younger than 18 must not be sentenced to death, but with 20 being the age of majority, the way sentences are meted out to 18- and 19-year-old offenders tends to be controversial.


Source: The Japan Times, Feb. 20, 2012
Location: Japan
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