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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.

China | Man who killed his pregnant wife sentenced to death

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Yan Haojie, the man who killed his pregnant wife after she refused to help him repay his gambling debts, has been sentenced to death, the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court announced on Friday.

Investigations revealed that Yan, who was saddled with a gambling debt of over 1 million yuan, demanded money from his wife and threatened her with a knife on the morning of March 20, 2020. 

He then stabbed her to death after she refused. 

He later set fire to the house to cover up his crime.

The court found Yan guilty of intentional homicide and arson. 

Despite confessing to his crimes, he has been given capital punishment and deprived of political rights for life.

According to the investigation findings, Yan failed to obtain his degree while studying abroad and has been addicted to gambling since 2018. 

He also scouted his wife's home in the Pudong New Area before making the attack.

Source: China Daily, Staff, July 31, 2021


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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
Location: China
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