【10.04.06 每日电讯】China executes Japanese drug smuggler

青蛙小王子

Mitsunobu Akano, 65, was executed in the northeastern province of Liaoning, according to an announcement from China's top court, the Supreme People's Court.
Tokyo confirmed the execution had taken place, saying Chinese officials had informed Japanese diplomats shortly afterwards.

Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese Prime Minister, again said the case was "regrettable", but both sides said they hoped relations would not be affected.
"The seriousness of the crime of drug smuggling is widely recognised around the world," Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
"The death penalty is beneficial to the deterrence and prevention of serious drug trafficking crimes ... we hope this case will not affect the normal development of bilateral ties."
Akano was arrested in September 2006 at an airport in the northeastern city of Dalian while reportedly trying to smuggle 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of narcotics from China to Japan.
"The courts had clear and irrefutable evidence of drug smuggling and the death sentence was handed down and carried out in line with Chinese law," the supreme court said.
It added Akano had been "treated legally".
The report said some of the drugs were in the luggage of an accomplice but gave no other details on that person.
Akano was initially sentenced to death in June 2008 and the punishment was upheld last year, Chinese state media have said.
"It is regrettable, as I have said all along," Mr Hatoyama said late on Tuesday.
"The government will work hard to ensure that this does not lead to cracks in the Japan-China relationship. We ask the public to remain calm."
Keiko Chiba, the Justice Minister, earlier expressed concern that the case "could trigger a backlash from the Japanese public".
Beijing has informed Japan it plans to execute three more Japanese drug smugglers as early as Thursday – Teruo Takeda, 67, from Nagoya city; Hironori Ukai, 48, from Gifu prefecture; and Katsuo Mori, 67, of Fukushima prefecture.
Japan uses capital punishment, usually in cases involving multiple homicides.
Last week, rights group Amnesty International called on Beijing to say publicly how many people it puts to death each year, saying the figure was likely in the "thousands" and more than the rest of the world combined.
Such data is not released by China, where it is considered a state secret.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7559751/China-executes-Japanese-drug-smuggler.html