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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

China launches legal assistance pilot program for all defendants

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13 people sentenced to death for drug trafficking in China
China has launched a pilot program to ensure every criminal defendant has access to a defense lawyer for their trial.

The Supreme People's Court and the Ministry of Justice jointly released a document Wednesday which stipulates that if a defendant has not retained a lawyer himself/herself, the court should inform legal assistance agencies to appoint a defence counsel for the defendant.

At present, a defense lawyer is only mandatory for juveniles and defendants with certain physical or mental disabilities, or in cases where the defendants face life imprisonment or death penalty sentences.

According to the document, if the appellate court finds that a defendant has not been allocated a defense lawyer due to the court's failure to correctly inform legal assistance agencies, the original ruling should be revoked and the case should be sent back for a retrial.

The document also guaranteed financial assistance for the services.

It required lawyers to be diligent in their work and improve the quality of their defense services.

The pilot program, which will run for 1 year, was launched in 8 provincial-level regions -- Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Anhui, Henan, Guangdong, Sichuan and Shaanxi.

Source: xinhuanet.com, October 13, 2017


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
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