'Twitter Killer' Executed in Japan

Japan has executed a man convicted of murdering and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo, the country's Justice Ministry announced. Takahiro Shiraishi, the so-called "Twitter Killer", was sentenced to death in 2020 for murdering nine individuals, most of whom had expressed suicidal thoughts on Twitter.

The killings shocked the country and prompted a nation-wide debate on how suicide is discussed on social media platforms. Investigators say that Shiraishi used Twitter to contact his victims- most of them young women between the ages of 15 and 26- offering to help them carry out their sucidal wishes.

“This case caused devastating harm and sent shockwaves through society, instilling deep fear and unease,” Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said at an emergency press conference. He confirmed that he signed the execution order earlier this week but did not witness Shiraishi’s hanging.

The execution- which is the first time since 2022 that Japan has enacted capital punishment- comes amid gorwing debate in Japan over the future of the death penalty ignited by the acquittal last year of Iwao Hakamada, the world’s longest-serving death row inmate.

Suzuki defended the use of the death penalty, citing a recent government survey showing strong public support for executions- although opposition has increased slightly. “I do not believe abolishing capital punishment is appropriate,” Suzuki said, adding that concerns over serious crimes persist.

Shiraishi was executed by hanging at the Tokyo Detention House. As is standard practice in Japan, the execution was carried out in secrecy and not disclosed until after it was completed. According to Suzuki, Japan currently has 105 inmates on death row, including 49 seeking retrials.

Executions in Japan are conducted in secrecy, with inmates only informed of their fate on the morning of their execution. Since 2007, Japan has begun releasing the names of those executed and some details of their crimes, although disclosure remains limited.

Japan and the United States are the only members of the Group of Seven industrialised nations that retain the death penalty. Japan’s most recent execution occurred in July 2022, when a man convicted of killing seven people during a vehicle and stabbing rampage in Tokyo's busy Akihabara district in 2018 was put to death.