Beijing will execute as early as Monday a Japanese man convicted last year of drug trafficking

12:08 Beijing will execute as early as Monday a Japanese man convicted last year of drug trafficking 0 Comments

Beijing will execute as early as Monday a Japanese man convicted last year of drug trafficking, it was learned Tuesday. If the execution is carried out, it would be the first time a Japanese is put to death in China after the diplomatic relations between the two countries were restored in 1972. In September 2006, Mitsunobu Akano was arrested at Dalian Airport in Liaoning Province for attempting with another Japanese to smuggle about 2.5 kilograms of stimulant drugs to Japan. The accomplice was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In June 2008, the Dalian Intermediate People's Court handed down a death sentence on the man. He appealed, but the sentence was finalized after the Liaoning Province High People's Court upheld it. China's intermediate courts and high courts are equivalent to Japan's district courts and high courts, respectively. Four Japanese, including the man, have been given death sentences for drug trafficking. The Chinese government has shown little leniency over the smuggling of stimulant drugs and other narcotics. The Chinese criminal code stipulates that people caught smuggling 50 grams of stimulant drugs or more will be subject to imprisonment of 15 years, life imprisonment or death. However, drug smuggling attempts by Japanese have shown no significant signs of decline in China. In March, a 28-year-old Japanese from Tokyo was arrested at an airport in Shenyang by the public security authority for attempting to smuggle about 1 kilogram of stimulants to Japan. In July 2009, three Japanese men were arrested at Dalian Airport for drug trafficking.