Japan hangs 2 death-row inmates, 1st executions this year

Japan hanged two death-row inmates Friday morning, the Justice Ministry said, in the country's first executions this year.The two were identified by the ministry as Koichi Shoji, 64, who murdered two women in Kanagawa Prefecture in 2001, and Yasunori Suzuki, 50, who killed three women in Fukuoka Prefecture between 2004 and 2005."I ordered the executions based on careful consideration," Justice Minister Takashi Yamashita said at a press conference, noting the two "took away the lives of the victims who had done nothing wrong for very selfish reasons."The latest hangings brought the number of…READ FULL ARTICLE