JAPAN: PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIKO NODA STANDS BY USE OF DEATH PENALTY

March 30, 2012: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda defended the use of the death penalty, a day after three multiple murderers were executed.
"There is no change to our policy not to abolish the death penalty," Noda told a press conference. "We have judged that it is difficult to immediately abolish the death penalty, considering the current situation where the number of violent crimes does not fall and crimes continue," he said. (Sources: AFP, 30/03/2012)