Riportiamo il messaggio di Misaki YAGISHITA,
Amnesty International Japan

"It is high possibility to have any execution in June, especially after the diet will go to recess.

The last day of current diet session is scheduled on June 16.

The official announcement of the election of the upper house is scheduledon June 26.

That means, from June 16 to 26 will be a kind of empty zone in political situation.  Many diet members leave Tokyo to prepare for their elections in their election districts.

The current minister of justice, Mr. Taizo NOZAWA says that he does not run for the coming upper house election.

That means there is a high possibility to have executions before he resigns the minister of justice (will be July) after the diet will go into recess.

The last friday, we met the minister of justice with some diet members from the diet members' league against death penalty.  At the meeting, the minister of justice never mentioned the execution, but he mentioned it was too difficult to abolish the death penalty since public order in Japan is getting worse now and majority of the Japanese people support the death penalty.

There are 5 death row inmates who face high possibility of execution:

1) Takeshige HAMADA (Fukuoka detention center)
2) Kousaku NATA (Osaka detention center)
3) Tadashi MAKINO (Fukuoka detention center)
4) Noboru IKEMOTO (Osaka detention center)
5) Masahiko MATSUBARA (Osaka detention center)

The reasons for the high possibility of execution of these people are:
1) Their appeals for reopen of the retrial were rejected,
2) They spend the years in death row enough to be executed,
3) some of them don't have any lawyer,
4) some of them are isolated.

The address where we should send any appeal are:
Mr. Taizo NOZAWA, Minister of Justice,
1-1-1 Kasumigaseki, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 100-8977
FAX: 81-3-3592-7011
OR
#639 2-1-1 Nagatacho, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 100-8962
Fax: 81-3-3591-0886

We really appreciate your help and keep in touch.

Misaki YAGISHITA
Amnesty International Japan