Dec 10 2007
Japanese court sentences mob boss sentenced death
TOKYO — A Japanese mafia boss was Monday sentenced to death over the killing of five people, including three bystanders, in shootings at a bar and a Tokyo hospital.
The Tokyo District Court found Osamu Yano, 58, guilty of ordering the shooting of a rival gang member in 2003 in a bar in Maebashi, 100 kilometres (62 miles) northwest of Tokyo, in which three bystanders were killed.
Yano, who has links to the underworld syndicate Sumiyoshi-kai, was also found to have orchestrated the fatal shooting of a gang member at a Tokyo hospital in 2002.
The court upheld the prosecutors’ demand for the death penalty despite a plea of innocence.
“The defendant’s responsibility is greater than those who actually carried out the orders,” said Presiding Judge Yoshifumi Asayama.
“The chagrin over the three who were unrelated to the mafia groups is beyond imagination,” he said.
Japan is the only major industrialised country other than the United States to use the death penalty, which enjoys strong support among the public despite criticism from human rights groups.
Japanese “Yakuza” gangsters are closely monitored but have been largely tolerated by the authorities and control vast business interests, particularly in the entertainment industry.
Police say a crackdown has led to a decrease in violence in recent years, but there have been several gang related killings this year, including the shooting of Nagasaki mayor Iccho Ito by a mobster in April.
Japanese court sentences mob boss sentenced death - AFP - 10.12.2007 - http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQ1gIhU4Xnw3UyqTLvXC7JFOcf9A
