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Japan | Hakamada found religion, but then felt under attack by ‘the devil’

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Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series on letters that Iwao Hakamada wrote while on death row. About a decade after cursing God, Iwao Hakamada was baptized Catholic at the Tokyo Detention House on Dec. 24, 1984. “Since I have been given the Christian name Paul, I am keenly feeling that I should be aware of the greatness of Paul.” (June 1985)

Belarus: Commute Gennadii Yakovitskii's Death Sentence

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Gennadii Yakovitskii was sentenced to death in Belarus on 5 January. His was the first death sentence to be passed in 2016.

1) Please write immediately in Belarusian, Russian, English or your own language: 
  • Urging President Lukashenka to halt any planned executions and immediately commute the death sentence handed down to Gennadii Yakovitskii and all others sentenced to death in Belarus; 
  • Calling on him to establish an immediate moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty; 
  • Stress that whilst we are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the crime of which Gennadii Yakovitskii has been convicted of, research shows that the death penalty does not deter crime more than other forms of imprisonment and is the ultimate denial of human rights. 
2) For the full Urgent Action, including appeal addresses and further information, please click on the Word or PDF version below.

3) Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! 

EITHER send a short email to uan@aiusa.org with "UA 18/16" in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent, 

OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.


Source: Amnesty International, January 25, 2016

- Report an error, an omission: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com - Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
Location: Belarus
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