[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

June 1



IRAN:

Man Charged with Corruption on Earth to Be Hanged in Public Tomorrow


An unidentified man charged with "Corruption on earth" is reportedly scheduld 
to be executed in public in the city of Shiraz (Fars province, southern Iran) 
early morning on Thursday June 2. The public prosecutor of Shiraz confirmed the 
news to the state-run news agency, Mizan.

In the report the public prosecutor claims the man was sentenced to death for 
creating an environment of instability in Shiraz by attacking the homes of 
residents at night and committing acts of rape.

Over the past week, there were at least 2 executions carried out in public in 
the province of Fars. According to statistics gathered by Iran Human Rights, in 
the past several years, the province of Fars has been home to the most public 
executions in Iran.

(source: Iran Human Rights)






JAPAN:

Uninformed 'confession' hoped to clear late Teigin Incident suspect


Sadamichi Hirasawa was sentenced to death in part because of a one-off 
admission that he killed 12 people with poison and took money from a branch of 
Teikoku Ginko (Imperial Bank) in Tokyo in 1948. The Teigin Incident, as the 
crime became known, was one of postwar Japan's most sensational mass-murder 
cases.

Hirasawa's lawyers, however, are attempting to reopen the case by using what 
they call his temporary confession as evidence to prove his innocence.

In an appeal for a retrial filed with the Tokyo High Court last November, the 
lawyers submitted an expert opinion written by Sumio Hamada, professor emeritus 
of psychology at Nara Women's University, who closely examined interrogation 
records to conclude Hirasawa knew nothing about the crime for which he was 
accused and ultimately convicted.

"Hirasawa turned to confess (to) the crime after denying his involvement, but 
the confession statements show he knew nothing about the crucial points - how 
he (allegedly) obtained the poison, how the victims died and how he used the 
(stolen) money. He did not have to conceal them once he admitted to the 
murder," Hamada said.

"He even told interrogators that he found it difficult to make what he was 
saying consistent. It indicates Hirasawa struggled to draw the plot of the 
crime on the assumption that he himself was the culprit."

"The records of Hirasawa's statements also show interrogators, for their part, 
had no doubts about his involvement in the crime," added Hamada, who has issued 
expert opinions by studying statements of crime suspects in many other high 
profile murder cases.

"When inconsistencies emerged, the interrogators helped him make an adjustment 
without considering the possibility that he might be innocent."

Following his arrest based on flimsy evidence in August 1948 - 7 months after 
the mass-poisoning - Hirasawa initially denied perpetrating the crime, only to 
own up to it one month later.

Although he changed his plea again to innocent at the start of his trial, he 
received the death penalty, which was finalized in 1955.

He sought a retrial, helped by his adopted son, Takehiko, but died in a Tokyo 
prison hospital on May 10, 1987, at the age of 95 following a 39-year 
incarceration.

Takehiko, whose real father was a famous writer supporting Hirasawa, continued 
efforts to get his adoptive father exonerated posthumously. Takehiko, however, 
was found dead at his home in 2013 at the age of 54.

With Takehiko's death, it was assumed the legal quest to exonerate Hirasawa was 
over. However, the late inmate's lawyers urged his relatives to take over the 
attempt to achieve justice, according to Keiichiro Ichinose, the chief lawyer.

While only lineal relatives are allowed to pursue such action under the 
Japanese legal system, those of Hirasawa's had been reluctant to step forward 
due to social prejudice.

Responding to the calls, one relative agreed to become the party to revive the 
retrial quest - the 20th appeal - and a civil group was formed in late May to 
support the unpaid effort to reopen the case.

At a meeting to launch the group, Hamada said, "It must be difficult (for 
others) to comprehend . . . that a suspect (can make) a false confession, which 
may lead to a death sentence. But the Teigin and other criminal cases show a 
wrongly suspected person may have no choice but to behave as the real culprit 
amid daylong, day-after-day questioning, even when not facing violent pressure, 
such as torture."

"I believe the 'confession' of Hirasawa can be proof of his innocence," Hamada 
told around 80 attendees.

Another pillar of the latest retrial appeal is the psychological evaluation of 
the eyewitness testimony, including by survivors of the Teigin Incident, 
conducted by Surugadai University professor Satoshi Hara and other researchers.

"The eyewitnesses were required to identify Hirasawa several months after the . 
. . Teigin Incident, but their memories must have been affected in the wake of 
massive reports about his arrest and other factors," Hara said at the meeting.

He suggested his argument was demonstrated by experiments carried out under 
similar situations involving Hirasawa and the Teigin eyewitnesses.

"I have to say (the) testimonies of (the) eyewitnesses (were) easily 
contaminated and fragile, thus they are not admissible," Hara said.

Hara also said that while eyewitnesses should be required to identify a culprit 
from a police lineup of several people with similar looks, those in the Teigin 
case were asked to point out the suspect in an interrogation room where only 
Hirasawa was present.

Many mysteries still remain over the Teigin Incident, one of which is what kind 
of poison was used.

The court determined it was potassium cyanide, but it would have affected the 
victims immediately. Several died some time after a man, said to be Hirasawa 
posing as a health official, administered the drug.

Given the delayed effect and the murderer's sophisticated modus operandi, some 
argue that a person connected to a secret wartime Japanese military unit known 
to have worked on chemical weapons must have been involved in the 
robbery-murders.

The civil group, meanwhile, also aims to restore the reputation of Hirasawa as 
a painter, said Eizo Yamagiwa, one of its founders.

Hirasawa was a famed painter before his arrest, and he left hundreds of 
drawings produced in his prison cell. "We hope that not only his pre-arrest 
works but also those drawn in prison will win attention so Hirasawa could be 
recognized in the art world," said Yamagiwa, a longtime human rights activist.

"Many people have suffered false accusations in postwar Japan, and the Teigin 
Incident, given overdependence on a confession and distorted eyewitness 
testimony, is (rooted in) misjudgment," he said, adding that exonerating 
Hirasawa would help end the injustices of Japan's judiciary.

(source: Japan Times)