Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi holds a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 14, 2024. - Photo: Kyodo
TOKYO: (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) The Japanese government does not plan to open a discussion on revising the issue of the death penalty and possibly abolishing it, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Thursday (Nov 14), reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
"The majority of the public believes that the death penalty is inevitable for extremely heinous crimes. Murder of many people, murder for robbery - these heinous crimes are still not a thing of the past, the death penalty is inevitable for those who have committed such vicious offences.
"Therefore, the government does not consider it appropriate to abolish the death penalty system at this time and will not open a debate on the abolition of the death penalty," Hayashi told a briefing.
In Japanese judicial practice, the death penalty is usually applied in cases of multiple murders, and there are about 10 such sentences each year.
The condemned person may wait for years to be hanged, only to be informed on the morning of the execution. International human rights organisations are calling on Japan to abolish this form of punishment as inhumane. - Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti
