A local Japanese mafia boss Yakuza has been sentenced to death in southern Japan for leading four attacks on the group, according to the indictment, which left one dead and three injured. According to Japanese television NHK, this is the first death sentence for a mafia boss.
Nomura Satoru, 74, is said to be the leader of the Kudo-kai gang, which operates in the Fukuoka region of southern Japan. The attacks took place between 1998 and 2014. In one of them, the head of a fishing cooperative was shot dead. dead. Three other people were injured: a dentist, a police officer, who was shot, and a nurse, who was stabbed.
Although there is no evidence of Nomura’s direct involvement, prosecutors stressed that the attacks could not take place without the permission of the group leader, according to NHK, which is why he was convicted.
Nomura has denied any involvement in the crimes and lawyers said they would appeal the conviction. “I asked for a fair sentence. You will regret it all your life,” he said, according to the BBC.
The death penalty in Japan is only applied for murder, and criminals are killed by hanging, but this type of conviction is less common. In 2020, for example, no one was executed, according to local press. Between 2012 and 2019, 46 people were killed.
with Reuters