Jan. 1
JAPAN:
15 death row prisoners executed in '08
A total of 15 death row inmates were executed in 2008 after waiting an
average of 4 years and 1 month after their death sentences had been
finalized.
Between 1998 and 2007, it took about 8 years on average before 35 death
row inmates were executed after their death sentences had been finalized.
The 2008 executions are indicative of the Justice Ministry's preference of
making execution waiting periods shorter.
Last year, 10 inmates were executed under Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama,
3 under Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka and 2 under current Justice
Minister Eisuke Mori.
Last year's executions marked the 1st time more than 10 death row inmates
were executed in the same year since 1976, when 12 were executed.
Of the 15 executed last year, the shortest period between the finalization
of the death sentence and the execution was 22 months in the case of
Masahiro Takashio, 55, who murdered a woman and her daughter in Fukushima
Prefecture in 2004. He was executed in October.
(source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
CHINA:
Sanlu chief in court over tainted milk
The former chairwoman of the dairy company at the heart of China's tainted
milk scandal has gone on trial for selling fake or substandard products.
Tian Wenhua, who is also a former general manager of Sanlu Group Co, could
face the death penalty if convicted, as could three other top executives
who also went on trial yesterday, the official Xinhua News Agency has
reported.
Sanlu is 43 %-owned by New Zealand's Fonterra Group.
The high-profile trials and the release of details in a 1.1 billion yuan
($278 million) compensation plan signal that authorities hope to end what
was seen as a national disgrace, highlighting widespread food safety
problems and corporate and official malfeasance.
Infant formula contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine has been
blamed for killing at least 6 children and making nearly 300,000 others
sick.
Authorities say milk suppliers mixed the nitrogen-rich powder into raw
milk in order to fool quality tests for protein. When ingested in larger
amounts, melamine can cause kidney stones and kidney failure.
It is not known how long the trials at the Shijiazhuang Intermediate
People's Court in northern China will last or when the verdicts will be
announced.
17 others have gone on trial, at least four of whom also face the death
penalty, Xinhua has said.
But the court cases offer little consolation to some parents who felt the
government breached their trust after their children died or fell ill from
milk powder certified by authorities as safe.
Some families have said the planned payout is too low, and their lawyers
pledged to continue attempts to sue for more compensation.
"If they offer me compensation, I won't accept, because what do I need
this money for since my son is gone," said Tian Xiaowei, an apple farmer
and part-time truck driver, whose year-old child Tian Jin died in August
from what he said was drinking melamine-tainted milk powder.
Tian could receive 200,000 yuan ($50,000) for the death of his child,
according to details of the payout plan reported Tuesday by the China
Daily, an official newspaper.
Children who suffered kidney stones would get 2000 yuan ($500) while
sicker children would be paid 30,000 yuan ($7600). The one-time payments
total 900 million yuan, while another 200 million yuan will go to a fund
set up to cover bills for lingering health problems.
But parents who received copies of the agreement considered the offer of
2000 yuan to be woefully inadequate, said Beijing attorney Xu Zhiyong, who
is part of a legal team representing 63 families.
Xu's attempts to sue the companies involved have so far been rejected by
the courts. "The compensation is too low and no victims were involved in
the decision-making process."
(source: Associated Press)
