Japan hangs two killers | Bangkok Post: breakingnews

Japan hangs two killers

Published: 3 Aug 2012 at 16.21
Online news:

Japan hanged two death-row inmates in Tokyo and Osaka Friday in the first executions since March, raising this year's total to five, news reports said.

The Justice Ministry identified the two as Junya Hattori and Kyozo Matsumura, Jiji Press reported.Hattori, 40, kidnapped and raped a 19-year-old student in 2002 before burning her to death at a building site in the central Japanese city of Mishima, the report said.Matsumura, 31, killed two relatives in 2007 and stole their money. He was hanged in the western city of Osaka.The executions were the first under Justice Minister Makoto Taki, bringing the total number for the year and for the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to five."We need to make judgements prudently, but when we conclude that a specific case inevitably warrants an execution, we think we should not hold back," Taki was quoted by the Kyodo News agency as saying.Japan carried out executions every year from 1994 to 2010 but had none in 2011. On March 29, three convicts were hanged under former justice minister Toshio...

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elvis
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Discussion 9 : 04 Aug 2012 at 07.329
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@Jacksprat, D7,

Death penalty supporters see those who are executed while innocent, as 'collateral damage'.
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bubbs
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Discussion 8 : 03 Aug 2012 at 21.468
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I do not believe executions are a deterrent, however why should we keep useless human beings, if that is what they actually are, alive for thirty or forty years at the taxpayers expense. I think of all the money wasted in the UK on Sutcliffe, Nelisen, Hindley and Brady. A quick drop and nobody will really miss them
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jacksprat
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Discussion 7 : 03 Aug 2012 at 21.447
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"and Southern violence went down to 0. How about you use some gray matter." The violence exploded under Thaksin! Before he stuck his nose in, the southernmost provinces were fairly peaceful. 2001 - 19 policemen killed and 50 insurgent attacks. 2002 - 50 police and soldiers killed, 75 insurgent attacks. 2003 - 119 insurgent attacks. 2004 - about 600 people killed. Does that sound like zero to you?
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jacksprat
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Discussion 6 : 03 Aug 2012 at 21.356
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I oppose capital punishment for only one reason, however it is a very good one. Courts and juries are not infallible and numerous executed "killers" have later been found to have been innocent. Once they are dead, it is a bit too late to say you are sorry.
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smiles999
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Discussion 5 : 03 Aug 2012 at 19.195
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Hi...Japan's judicial system has decided..what this have to do with Thaksin/South Thailand violence ?
Death sentence does acts as a strong deterrent to law-breakers. The intention is to prevent innocent people to get lured into committing a wrong; there will be exceptions.
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sandman
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Discussion 4 : 03 Aug 2012 at 17.304
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re D1

Ah yes, the hawkish response wheeled out by the hard of thinking.

So you think that executing criminals is a deterrent to crime? Really?

Has executing drug smugglers in Singapore and Indonesia stopped or deterred drug smugglers? No
Has executing criminals in the states of the USA that apply capital punishment (like Texas)had any visible effect on the crime rates in those states? No
In the states of the US that have stopped executing criminals, did crime increase as a direct result of that policy? No.

Will executing Islamist terrorists in Thailand deter others from repeating their acts, .... or just create martyrs they can stick on recruiting posters and make the situation worse?

Try applying critical thinking and use the grey matter between your ears eh?

Capital Punishment does not work for its stated purpose and justification - to suppress and deter crime. Never did, never does, never will.

It is therefore nothing more than an empty act of barbaric revenge and state sanctioned murder.
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franklin
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Discussion 3 : 03 Aug 2012 at 17.093
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Well at least Japan doesn't grant bail to those already convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Thai so-called justice system could learn a lesson here, but I doubt they even care.
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rock

Discussion 2 : 03 Aug 2012 at 17.072
By killing them, the japanese are showing the world they are not one iota better than these criminals. But we knew that already.
from iPhone application.
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txapi
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Discussion 1 : 03 Aug 2012 at 16.321
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Amnesty International is what's wrong with this world. What we need are MORE executions. Maybe these people in the South of Thailand would be more reluctant to bomb people if we execute them when caught instead of trying to coddle them.
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