The government issued a statement that defended the...

The government issued a statement that defended the December 1999 execution of a death-row inmate who had been requesting a retrial. The government said the justice minister had "the power and duty" to carry out the death sentence. The government also stated that it believes the Justice Minister can order the execution of a convict even before a court decision on his or her request for a retrial because of this power and duty, and that such an execution would not "infringe upon the independence of the judiciary." The government statement was issued in response to an inquiry made by Nobuto Hosaka, a House of Representatives member from the Social Democratic Party. Hosaka submitted an inquiry to the government concerning its policy on executions following the December 17 hanging of Teruo Ono, 62, at the Fukuoka Detention House. The execution was extremely unusual in that Ono was still in the process of requesting a retrial, claimi!ng that the final ruling contained errors. Ono was sentenced to death for killing a woman and stealing 20,000 yen from her in Nagasaki Prefecture in September 1977.