Japan Executes Man For Killing Family of 4

Japan Executes Killer of Family of 4



Japan Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe

Japan on Thursday executed a 40-year-old Chinese man, Wei Wei, who was convicted of murdering a family of four, in the country’s first execution of a foreigner since the disclosure of details on sentences carried out began in 2007, the justice ministry said.

The execution was the 39th since PM Shinzo Abe returned to power in 2012.

The man, Wei Wei, according to AL JAZEERA, had committed the murders in mid-2003 with two accomplices who were also Chinese nationals, 

The other two fled to China and were arrested there. One was executed in China in 2005 and the other received a life sentence, media said.

Japan is one of just two Group of Seven nations to retain the death penalty – along with the United States – and an overwhelming majority of the public favours it.



Prisoners are hanged in Japan, and the condemned are not told when their execution will take place until the morning of the day the sentence is carried out.

AL JAZEERA further reports that some 120 prisoners are on death row. Last year, 15 were executed – the highest number for a decade – including 13 former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult, who had been convicted of carrying out sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway.

The Thursday’s execution was the 39th since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power in 2012, according to the justice ministry.

Before 2007, the identity of those executed was not disclosed in data issued on capital punishment.