In Japan, a man was executed who was convicted of killing seven people in 2008 in the popular Tokyo district of Akihabara,
KYIV. UkraineGate. 26 . July . 2022 | World News
Details
The country’s Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said Tomohiro Kato made “thorough preparations” for the attack and showed a “firm intention” to kill. “The death sentence in this case was passed after sufficient deliberation in court,” he said.
“Based on this fact, I approved the punishment after extremely careful study,” the minister said.
The attack in June 2008, which also injured 10 people, began with Kato driving a truck into a crowd. After he stabbed several people, the man, then 25, was arrested at the scene. He told the police, “I came to Akihabara to kill people. It doesn’t matter who I kill.”
Police said he documented his trip to Akihabara on Internet message boards, typing messages on a cellphone from behind the wheel of a truck and complaining about his precarious job and loneliness.
Japan’s Supreme Court upheld Kato’s death sentence in 2015, saying there were no grounds for clemency. The attack was the country’s deadliest in seven years.
Kato’s execution was the first in Japan this year and comes after three inmates were hanged in December 2021. These were the first executions in the country in two years.
Addition
The use of the death penalty in Japan is shrouded in secrecy. According to Amnesty International, those on death row may find out that the sentence will be carried out only hours before, or sometimes not at all, while their families are usually told only afterwards. Amnesty, which opposes the death penalty in all cases, says the general trend around the world continues to be towards abolition.
Source: Ukrgate
