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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.

Indonesia: Attorney General Announces Six Executions to Take Place Sunday

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Jakarta. Indonesia’s attorney general announced on Thursday that the country would execute six convicted drug traffickers on Sunday, five of whom are foreign citizens.

“The execution of five people will be carried out on Jan. 18 in Nusa Kambangan and one other in Boyolali, Central Java,” Attorney General M.Prasetyo said in televised press conference on Thursday.

Prasetyo said the execution would be carried out in the maximum-security prison Nusa Kambangan for safety reasons.

He added that the executions would take place at the same time.

The condemned inmates have been allowed full access to their country’s consular services, Prasteyo said.

“Representatives from the embassies have come to Nusa Kambangan and Cilacap to visit their citizen, we gave them all access they needed,” Prasetyo said.

There are 136 inmates currently on death row, according to AGO data, with 64 of them sentenced for drug trafficking, two for terrorism and the rest for murder or aggravated robbery.

The death penalty in Indonesia is carried out by firing squad. Joko Widodo disappointed death-penalty campaigners in December when he said he would not offer clemency to convicted drug traffickers.

Indonesia resumed the execution of death row inmates in 2013, under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Source: Jakarta Globe, January 15, 2015

Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com
Location: Indonesia
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