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After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

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Japan should be ensuring the safety of its citizens, but instead it is taking people's lives. Is it acceptable to maintain the ultimate penalty under such circumstances? This is a serious question for society. The acquittal of 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada, who had been handed the death penalty, has been finalized after prosecutors decided not to appeal the verdict issued by the Shizuoka District Court during his retrial.

Iran: Public protest forced regime to postpone pubic hanging

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The Iranian regime's henchmen were forced to cancel the first public hanging of the prisoner named only as 'M.D.' on Monday after a demonstrators began clambering over police barriers to prevent the death sentence being carried out in Mazanderan province on Monday.

State-run daily newspaper Iran reported on Tuesday: "According to remarks made by an informed police source, all the preparations were made for carrying out the sentence but for security reasons related to the presence of the man's family members, the execution was postponed."

The victim had been sentenced to death for allegedly killing another man in street fight.

The report added: "Some 3,000 had gathered in the city's main square when some people attacked the security barriers and the ensuing turmoil caused the cancellation of the public hanging.

The prisoner was finally hanged in public on Tuesday in the city after spending more than five years in prison.

Source: NCRI, Sept. 2, 2014
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After acquittal of ex-death row inmate, debate needed on Japan's death penalty

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