The Justice Ministry sent four death row inmates to the gallows Monday, inflaming lawmakers and protesters over the first executions to be carried out in 15 months.
Justice Minister Jinen Nagase's rare Christmas Day approval sealed the fates of Yoshimitsu Akiyama, 77, and Yoshio Fujinami, 75, at the Tokyo Detention House; of Michio Fukuoka, 64, at the Osaka Detention House; and of Hiroaki Hidaka, 44, in Hiroshima.
They were the first hangings since September 2005, and it was first time more than three went to the gallows on a single day since August 1997.
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