A Chinese man on death row for the 2003 slaying of a family of four was executed in Fukuoka on Thursday, marking the first inmate put to death since Justice Minister Masako Mori took office Oct. 31.
Wei Wei, who had studied in Japan, was sentenced to death for the murder-robbery of a family in Fukuoka Prefecture.
The victims included an 11-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl.
“For a self-serving purpose, the convict killed all the family members. … This is an extremely ruthless crime,” Mori said during a news conference.
“We regarded very seriously the killing of four innocent people.”
Wei, 40, conspired with two other Chinese men and killed Shinjiro Matsumoto, 41, a clothing dealer, his wife, Chika, 40, their son, Kai, 11, and daughter, Hina, 8, on June 20, 2003, and stole about ¥37,000 in cash.
Their bodies were found the same day in Hakata Bay, handcuffed and weighted down with dumbbells.
The two accomplices fled to China where they were arrested.
One of them was executed there in 2005 and the other was given a life sentence.
Wei’s death sentence was finalized in 2011.
Prior to the murder, the three had been involved in various robberies.
In a statement released on the same day, international human rights group Amnesty International’s Japanese arm lambasted the execution of Wei, noting that it went ahead while he was seeking a retrial.
“Appealing for a retrial is part of the processes stipulated in the criminal procedure law,” the group said.
“They should have begun a process for suspending the execution while he was demanding a retrial. Failing to do so runs counter to the international human rights law.”
The statement also said Japan is turning its back on the global trend to abolish capital punishment, with more than 70 percent of the countries in the world having done away with the system legally or effectively.
In 2018, the group logged at least 690 executions — the lowest number in 10 years — in 20 countries including Japan, compared with at least 993 executions in 23 countries a year earlier, according to its report released in April.
In an interview with reporters shortly after assuming her ministerial post, Mori defended the nation’s capital punishment system.
“In cases of extremely brutal and heinous crimes, such a form of punishment is unavoidable,” she said.
She added, however, that imposing the death penalty requires thorough consideration from various angles and due process.
The last time the death sentence was carried out was Aug. 2.
The latest execution has brought the total number of hangings since the start of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s current tenure in 2012 to 39.
There are currently 111 prisoners on death row, the ministry said.
Source: Japan Times, Staff, December 26, 2019
Death-row inmate hanged in 1st execution since August
TOKYO -- Japan hanged a Chinese death-row inmate on Thursday convicted of killing four people in 2003, the Justice Ministry said, in the country's first execution since August.
The inmate was identified by the ministry as Wei Wei, 40, whose death sentence for the murder in Fukuoka was finalized in 2011.
It was the first execution ordered by Justice Minister Masako Mori since she assumed the post in October and the third execution this year following the hangings of two men on Aug 2.
According to the final ruling, Wei burgled the home of Shinjiro Matsumoto, 41, a clothing dealer, in June 2003 and killed him, his wife and their two children, in a conspiracy with two other Chinese men. They stole valuables from the home and submerged the four victims in Fukuoka's Hakata port by attaching weights to them.
"He killed an entire family for very selfish reasons. It was an extremely deplorable crime," Mori said.
The minister also said she signed the order of execution on Monday.
The latest hanging brought the number of executions under the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who returned to power in 2012, to 39. Japan's capital punishment system has drawn both domestic and international criticism, though some polls suggest the majority of Japanese support it.
After the execution of Wei, a former student at a computer school, the number of inmates sitting on death row with finalized sentences totaled 111.
Last year, a total of 15 death-row inmates were executed -- Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult founder Shoko Asahara, 63, and 12 former members of the group, in July, as well as two others in December.
Wei and his two compatriots had entered Japan on student visas. The accomplices were arrested by Chinese authorities after fleeing to China. One of them was sentenced to death and executed in 2005, while the other received life imprisonment in return for having surrendered to the authorities and cooperated in investigations.
Wei's defense team had sought a lighter sentence, arguing that his role in the crime was subordinate. But the Fukuoka District Court gave him the death penalty in May 2005.
The Fukuoka High Court upheld the first ruling and the Supreme Court rejected Wei's appeal in October 2011.
Amid the rising global trend of abolishing or suspending capital punishment, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations has called on the government to terminate the death penalty by 2020, suggesting the introduction of lifetime imprisonment without parole as an alternative.
Critics are also calling for greater transparency in the government process of deciding the timing of executions.
Source: Japan Today, Staff, December 26, 2019
Japan: Execution a shameful stain on human rights record of Olympic hosts
In response to the news that a man was executed in Japan on Thursday morning, Arnold Fang, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International, said:
“Today’s execution is a shameful black mark on Japan’s human rights record and exposes the government’s shocking lack of respect for the right to life.
“Ahead of a year when Japan will be hosting the Olympic Games, the country has shown that it lags far behind most of its peers. More than 100 countries worldwide have completely abolished the death penalty, while Japan persists with this barbaric punishment.
“We urge the Japanese authorities to establish an immediate official moratorium on all executions and promote an informed debate on the death penalty as first steps towards its abolition.”
Background
Wei Wei, a 40-year-old Chinese national, was executed on Thursday morning at Fukuoka Prison. He had been convicted of the murder of a family of four in Fukuoka, committed with two other students of Chinese origin. According to his lawyer, he had been seeking a retrial.
The other two students fled to China where one has been sentenced to death, the other to life imprisonment.
Japan is one of a handful of countries that has persistently executed over the past few years. In 2018, Amnesty International recorded executions in 20 countries - the second-lowest number in the past two decades.
Executions in Japan are shrouded in secrecy, with prisoners typically given only a few hours’ notice and some given no warning at all before their death sentences are carried out. Their families are usually notified about the execution only after it has taken place.
The execution brings the total number of executions since Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister in 2012 to 39. The last round of executions took place in August 2019, when two men convicted of murder were hanged. The execution of Wei Wei is the first by Justice Minister Masako Mori, who was appointed in October.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.
Source: Amnesty International, Staff, December 26, 2019
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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
