Japan PM says no to abolishing death penalty
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said that he supported continuing the death penalty, hours after the country executed three convicted murderers including a notorious serial killer.
By Agencies |
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said on Tuesday he supported continuing the death penalty, hours after the country executed three convicted murderers including a notorious serial killer.
"In Japan, the majority view is that capital punishment should be maintained, so I feel no need to change what we have continued doing until now," Fukuda told from the Group of Eight rich nations.
"But we also have to keep an eye on trends of world opinion," he said. Japan, the only G8 nation other than the United States to apply the death penalty, has come under fire from the European Union and human rights groups for stepping up the pace of executions.
Japan has executed 23 death-row inmates since December 2006, when it ended a de facto moratorium called by a former justice minister who said capital punishment went against his Buddhist beliefs.
Japan earlier on Tuesday hanged three death-row inmates, including Tsutomu Miyazaki, who murdered four girls in the late 1980s and ate some of their bodies.
"In Japan, the majority view is that capital punishment should be maintained, so I feel no need to change what we have continued doing until now," Fukuda told from the Group of Eight rich nations.
"But we also have to keep an eye on trends of world opinion," he said. Japan, the only G8 nation other than the United States to apply the death penalty, has come under fire from the European Union and human rights groups for stepping up the pace of executions.
Japan has executed 23 death-row inmates since December 2006, when it ended a de facto moratorium called by a former justice minister who said capital punishment went against his Buddhist beliefs.
Japan earlier on Tuesday hanged three death-row inmates, including Tsutomu Miyazaki, who murdered four girls in the late 1980s and ate some of their bodies.
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