101 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
101 lines
3.1 KiB
Plaintext
DEATH PENALTY IN 1976 BOMBING UPHELD
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The supreme Court on Friday rejected the appeal
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from a man sentenced to death for the March 1976
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bombing of the Hokkaido prefectural government
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building in Sapporo that killed two and injured 95.
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The court upheld the death penalty for Katsuhisa
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Omari, 44 of Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, for deaths
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resulting from a time bomb attack protesting the
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appropriation of the northernmost main island of
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Hokkaido from the Ainu ethnic "imperialists".
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"It is unavoidable that the first and second rulings
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decided on the death penalty for the brutal crime
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that aimed at killing a large number of people
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indiscriminately ," Presiding Judge Katsuya Onishi
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said.
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Omori, who was arrested in August 1976 in
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connection with a separate bombing, has claimed
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that all charges against him are "fabrication."
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Omori is in prison in Sapporo, but issued a
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statement through supporters.
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"It is clear that is no proof of a crime and that I am
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not guilty," he said in the statement. "The Supreme
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Court is protecting and supporting the police and
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prosecutors who have fabricated the evidence."
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Omori's case has brought the number of people on
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deathrow to 59, according to a private group
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promoting a campaign punishment.
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Omori was convicted largely because investigators
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detected explosive materials on vinyl sheet thrown
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away by the defendant.
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The bomb blast damaged the first floor of the
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Hokkaido government building shortly after 9 a.m.
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March 2, 1976.
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A man claiming to be with the "East Asia
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Anti-Japanese Armed Front" later called a local
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newspaper to claim responsibility for the bombing,
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saying that a statement could be found in a coin
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locker at a subway station.
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The statement called on the Japanese people to
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destroy the "imperialist" rule over the Ainu,
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Okinawans,Koreans, Taiwanese, and all over the
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Asians.
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The ruling brings to a close, after 18 years, the
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major trials of former radicals in politically motivated
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bombings.
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Last February, the Supreme Court upheld the death
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penalty for former United Red Army members,
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Hiroko Nagata and Hiroshi Sakaguchi for the mass
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execution of their comrades and for the killing of
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policemen in a shootout between 1971 and 1972.
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this article from July 16, 1994 MAINICHI DAILY
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NEWS (normal newspaper)
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BOMB FOUND NEAR COURT OFFICIAL'S HOME
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A suspected timing device was found in front of the
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home of an official of the Supreme Court in Sunday,
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police said.
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A Family member of Yoshiyuki Iguchi, a secretary for
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Supreme Court Justice Katsuya Onishi, made an
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emergency call to police upon discovering a
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cardboard box in front of the home in Chofu, Tokyo.
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Police rushed to the scene and found a suspected
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time device and a bottle filled with something like
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gasoline inside the box.
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The device did not explode and nobody was injured.
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Last Friday, Justice Onishi rejected an appeal from
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an extremist sentenced to death for the March
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1976 bombing of the Hokkaido prefectural
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government building in Sapporo Which killed two and
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injures d 95.
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this article from 19 July, 1994, MAINICHI DAILY
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NEWS (normal newspaper)
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Sender;ARP,P.O.Box 57, Sakyo Kyoto, 606 JAPAN
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E-mail;arpresist@igc.apc.org
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