4 death row inmates hanged; two in their 70s

Four death row inmates in Japan were hanged Monday, the first executions since September last year, informed sources said. They are Yoshimitsu Akiyama, 77, and Yoshio Fujinami, 75, who were both held at the Tokyo Detention House, Michio Fukuoka, 64, who was held at the Osaka Detention House, and Hiroaki Hidaka, 44, incarcerated at the Hiroshima Detention House.

The executions are the first under Justice Minister Jinen Nagase, who assumed the post when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched his Cabinet in September. Nagase's predecessor, Seiken Sugiura, did not give the go-ahead for any executions during his 11 months in office.

Amnesty International Japan released a statement to protest the executions. "The latest executions were carried out when the Diet is adjourned and without advance notice to the inmates themselves or their families," the statement said.

"The death penalty is a punishment that is cruel, inhumane and hurts dignity...We hope Japan will take the first step in the near future to abolish the death penalty," it said.

Japan resumed executions in March 1993 following a moratorium of some 40 months. Since then, hangings have been carried out every year, and the latest four brings to 51 the number of hangings since the resumption.

According to Amnesty, 128 countries around the world have abolished, or virtually terminated, capital punishment, while 69 countries still maintain the death penalty.