Japan: Secret execution a stain on justice system

26 June 2014 The Japanese authorities’ determination to continue with secret executions despite growing concern on the use of the death penalty in the country is a scar on the justice system, said Amnesty International. Masanori Kawasaki, 68 was hanged early on Thursday morning at Osaka detention centre. He was convicted in 2008 of the murder of three relatives. The execution is the first since a court ordered the immediate release in March of Hakamada Iwao, who spent more than four decades on death row after an unfair trial. Prosecutors have appealed the decision to grant Hakamada a…

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