China executes Japanese citizen for drug-trafficking

Mitsunobu Akano, 65, became the first Japanese national to be executed by China since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beijing and Tokyo in 1972.

Akano and his accomplice were arrested in September 2006 at an airport in Dalian, in the northeast Liaoning Province trying to carry a total of over 2.5 kg of stimulant drugs through a security checkpoint.

"The courts had clear and irrefutable evidence of drug smuggling and the death sentence was handed down and carried out in line with Chinese law," Xinhua cited an announcement by China's the Supreme People's Court.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama expressed regret over the death penalty for Akano but said Japan could not interfere with another country's jurisdiction; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.