Japan 2005
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
News on Japan in 2005
- JUNE 8, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. TOP COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLER OF 4 WOMEN
Japan’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentence given by a lower court to Masakatsu Nishikawa, a man who murdered four female bar managers in western Japan in less than a month in 1991.
- JUNE 7, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. HUSBAND DEFENDS JAPAN'S 'CURRY KILLER'
Kenji Hayashi, a Japanese man whose wife was sentenced to death for killing four neighbors with arsenic-laced curry -- and once allegedly tried to poison him -- said she should be freed and reunited with their four children.
- JUNE 3, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. JFBA LAUNCHES SERIES OF PUBLIC HEARINGS ON DEATH PENALTY
the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, the country's largest lawyers' group, had launched a series of public hearings on its proposal to suspend executions while the Diet debated the use of capital punishment.
- JUNE 2, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESSES JAPAN TO IMPROVE RIGHTS RECORD
Amnesty International called on Japan to abolish the death penalty and improve treatment of refugees and prisoners, saying its bid to join the UN Security Council put it under greater scrutiny.
- JUNE 1, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. CHINESE MAN IN FUKUOKA FAMILY MURDER APPEALS DEATH SENTENCE
Wei Wei, a Chinese national, appealed a district court ruling that sentenced him to death for his part in the murder in 2003 of a family of four in Fukuoka, Japan.
- MAY 24, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR MAN WHO KILLED STEPSON, IN-LAWS
the Tokyo High Court upheld the death sentence for Tomoyuki Furusawa, a man convicted of murdering his 12-year-old stepson and the parents of his estranged wife in Yokohama in 2002.
- MAY 23, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. RETRIAL SOUGHT IN CASE OF PRISONER EXECUTED IN 1947 MURDER CASE
the family of Takeo Nishi, a man executed in 1975 over a murder in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture asked the Fukuoka High Court for a retrial of the case, saying he had been tortured into confessing, lawyers for the family said.
- MAY 20, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. CHINESE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING FUKUOKA FAMILY
the Fukuoka District Court sentenced Wei Wei, a Chinese man, to death for his part in the murder in 2003 of a family of four in Fukuoka.
- MAY 15, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. 2 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2002 MURDERS, ROBBERY, ARSON
the Kokura Branch of the Fukuoka District Court, Japan, sentenced two men to death for murdering two people in January 2002.
- MAY 7, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DEATH SENTENCE FOR EX-AUM CULTIST STANDS, 1ST IN AUM-RELATED CASES
the death sentence for Kazuaki Okazaki, a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, was finalized after Japan’s Supreme Court rejected his plea to change the ruling.
- APRIL 27, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER-FOR-INSURANCE MONEY
the Hiroshima District Court, Japan, sentenced Kiyotaka Oyama, a former company president, to death for killing his stepfather and wife in the city of Hiroshima to obtain a total of 73 million yen in life insurance money.
- APRIL 20, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
Japan voted against the resolution on the death penalty at the 61st UN Commission on Human Rights.
- APRIL 18, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. NEWSPAPER DELIVERYMAN ASKS TO DIE SOON FOR GIRL'S MURDER
Kaoru Kobayashi, a Japanese newspaper deliveryman and serial paedophile, asked for the death penalty and voiced no remorse for drowning a young girl whose dead body he photographed for her mother to see.
- APRIL 9, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DALAI LAMA CALLS FOR ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama called for the abolition of the death penalty. On the second day of a visit to Japan which had been condemned by China, the Dalai Lama told a crowd of hundreds in Tokyo that criminals should be treated with “
- APRIL 7, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. SUPREME COURT GIVES GO-AHEAD TO EXECUTE FIRST DOOMSDAY CULT MEMBER
Japan's Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Kazuaki Okazaki, a former officer of the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult, giving the green light for the first execution of a member of the sect that attacked the Tokyo subway with nerve gas in 1995.
- APRIL 7, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. PROSECUTORS APPEAL REOPENING CASE FOR DEATH ROW INMATE MASARU OKUNISHI
prosecutors in Japan filed an appeal against a ruling by the Nagoya High Court for a retrial of Masaru Okunishi, a death row inmate convicted of murdering five women in a wine poisoning case in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, in 1961.
- APRIL 6, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. MAN ON DEATH ROW SINCE 1972 TO GET RETRIAL IN 1961 MURDER CASE
the Nagoya High Court, Japan, decided to allow a retrial for Masaru Okunishi, who had been on the death row since 1972 when he was convicted of murdering five women in a wine poisoning case in Nabari, Mie Prefecture, in 1961, citing new evidence that coul
- MARCH 29, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
Junya Hattori
Junya Hattori
- MARCH 28, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. MAN TO HANG AFTER BOTCHED ASSASSINATION BID LEAVES 3 DEAD
Masato Kohinata, a member of an organised crime group who shot to death three random customers at a bar while trying to assassinate a rival gang boss, was sentenced to death.
- MARCH 3, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. DEATH PENALTY SOUGHT FOR COUPLE OVER KILLING OF 7 IN FUKUOKA
prosecutors in Japan demanded the death penalty for a man and a woman in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, accusing them of killing seven people including the woman's own relatives in the late 1990s.
- MARCH 3, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
JAPAN. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR OKASHITA
Japan's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Kaoru Okashita, a 58 year old man convicted of murdering two people
- FEBRUARY 21, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
the Chiba District Court, Japan, sentenced Koji Takao
the Chiba District Court, Japan, sentenced Koji Takao
- FEBRUARY 19, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
according to a government survey, Japanese voters were overwhelmingly...
according to a government survey, Japanese voters were overwhelmingly...
- FEBRUARY 17, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
an appellate court in Shanghai, China, rejected an appeal made by Tadahiro Furusawa
an appellate court in Shanghai, China, rejected an appeal made by Tadahiro Furusawa
- JANUARY 27, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan’s Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that sentenced...
Japan’s Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings that sentenced...
- JANUARY 25, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
the Supreme Court of Japan upheld a high court decision sentencing...
the Supreme Court of Japan upheld a high court decision sentencing...
- JANUARY 13, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
Shigeru Yagi, a 55-year-old moneylender failed to escape from death...
Shigeru Yagi, a 55-year-old moneylender failed to escape from death...