27 death sentences issued in Japan in 2008

Monday 29th December, 06:09 AM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

12 Comments

tjfrancis at 03:27 PM JST - 29th December

I'd only agree to a moratorium on the death penalty if every inmate found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a hideous crime would commit suicide within the week he is found guilty. (the deal for their afterlife should be the sooner they did it, the less they suffer in hell)
cleo at 03:33 PM JST - 29th December

(the deal for their afterlife should be the sooner they did it, the less they suffer in hell)

So you not only get to say who lives and who dies, but how the Big G should run run his own shop?

There is no hell. When you execute a person you give him or her an easy cop-out (note the number of nutters who attempted suicide this year by killing innocent passers-by 'Because I wanted to get the death penalty'). You also put the stain of homicide on the hands of the executioner and on the hands of every citizen whose taxes pay to maintain this barbaric system.
tjfrancis at 03:39 PM JST - 29th December

hi cleo, I've read several of your posts since I started reading JT but I never realized you were against the death penalty. unrelated tho, I agree with most of your posts. :) we see eye-to-eye on most subjects, but obviously not on this one. (not too sure why you'd think that I think I get to say who lives and dies tho)
tjfrancis at 03:44 PM JST - 29th December

oh and the continue this conversation, you do realize that life in prison costs the every citizen unimaginable taxes. despite what opponents say, life in prison is NOT cheaper than an execution. not even for a country that uses lethal injection. (and especially not cheaper for a country that uses a rope)
bebert at 04:08 PM JST - 29th December

A pretty restrained use of the death penalty. I'm not entirely comfortable with the state having the power to kill, especially when they use it for political ends - like Tim McViegh and Saddam Hussein's executions. Still, with DNA evidence, you can link the worst of the worst, like serial killers, to their crimes and exhonerate the innocent. Keep them alive for life so they may rot in a cell? Nice idea, but the elimination of the death penalty leads to a sliding scale of justice. Once life becomes the worst punishment, you get what you have in Europe. There a life sentence means 20 to 30 years in prison. After that, even the head of the murderous Red Army Faction can get released (after 28 years). Now, if you commit a speech crime, you can get 5 years - but a murder only gets you 20 and mass murder gets you 28. There is more justice in a death sentence system. I'd prefer to keep it, with reservations.
cleo at 05:30 PM JST - 29th December

tj -

Sorry, I didn't mean you as in tj, but you as in people who are pro-death penalty. (Must remember not to type as I speak)

As for life in prison costing tax money, that's fine. It's only money. Much better than blood on your/one's hands.

bebert -

Keep them alive for life so they may rot in a cell? Nice idea, but the elimination of the death penalty leads to a sliding scale of justice.

Results are more important than revenge (which is what the death penalty is; 'justice' is just a nicer name that people like to give it, but essentially, it's revenge.)

Moderator: Sorry, comparisons with other countries are irrelevant to this discussion.
MikeBarrymore at 09:39 PM JST - 29th December

I think the death penalty is a ghastly punishment and very outdated.

How many poor innocent people have sat alone for years in a cell waiting to be killed?

Japan, stop this practice, it really is a nasty form of justice.
jessssicaaa at 12:07 AM JST - 30th December

i think the death penalty should only be done with life for a life.. either death or life in prison. but i think life in prison is a worse punishment because then they suffer, and aslong as they arent let out for 'good behaviour' its a great punishment. where as the death penalty is kind of a short torcher then there gone.. plus to do the death penalty they must be 110% sure that they got the right person.. to be honest i dont like the death penalty, only if its life for a life. especially lots of lives!
likeitis at 03:24 PM JST - 30th December

oh and the continue this conversation, you do realize that life in prison costs the every citizen unimaginable taxes.

That is why you make them work it off! I am sure these 27 people are not straining the system that much anyway, ie, there are bigger wastes of your tax money out there, I guarantee it.

Until you all get against the death penalty, you have very little ground to attack countries like Iran who hang people from cranes. At least they have the sense to do executions publicly. Japan hides it, which is basically an admission of how ugly and uncivilised it is, yet they keep doing it.

Once life becomes the worst punishment, you get what you have in Europe. There a life sentence means 20 to 30 years in prison.

Just because they do it does not mean we all have to. Life should mean life, and it should not be a pleasant stay either. The death penalty is barbaric and supported by those of small mind.
solss at 12:45 AM JST - 31st December

"Japan, stop this practice, it really is a nasty form of justice."

Tell it to the US first and then see what happens.
tjfrancis at 03:31 AM JST - 31st December

likeitis, forgive me. I wasn't aware they actually work in there. If I see statistics that prisoners bring in more revenue for the state then they consume, for the first time in my 28 years of life I will take a new stand regarding capital punishment. fair enough?
leigh at 02:40 AM JST - 12th August

life, murder, justice, revenge ,pain ,death we all have choices some we make will kill us.may peace be with you.