Japan’s Justice Minister came under fire for remarks that were seen as unimportant about his role in giving final authorization for the use of the death penalty in the country, as reported by Kyodo News.
Yasuhiro Hanashi, a ruling party lawmaker who took office in August, told a political meeting that justice minister is a “dark” job that only makes big headlines after approving the decision to hang prisoners.
“Serving as justice minister would not help raise a lot of money or secure a lot of votes,” said Hanashi, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party.
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Japan was one of 18 countries around the world to carry out executions last year, while a total of 108 countries abolished the death penalty by the end of the year, according to rights group Amnesty International.
Hanashi has not authorized any execution as Minister of Justice.
Seiji Osaka, a top opposition lawmaker from the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, called Hanashi “unfit” to be a Cabinet member, saying he doesn’t understand “the importance of his position.”
