Yakuza boss is first ever to be sentenced to death in Japan: Senior crime clan member tells judge 'You will regret this for the rest of your life' after being found guilty of ordering a string of murders and attacks over 16 years
Satoru Nomura, 74, is the head of the violent Kudo-kai yakuza crime syndicate
He was sentenced to death by Fukuoka District Court in west Japan on Tuesday
Prosecutors argued he ordered three violent assaults and one murder
Nomura denies the accusations and his lawyers said he intends to appeal
Believed to be first time a senior yakuza member has received death sentence
PUBLISHED: 13:04 EDT, 24 August 2021 | UPDATED: 14:06 EDT, 24 August 2021
"Satoru Nomura, 74, is the head of the violent Kudo-kai yakuza crime syndicate
He was sentenced to death by Fukuoka District Court in west Japan on Tuesday
Prosecutors argued he ordered three violent assaults and one murder
Nomura denies the accusations and his lawyers said he intends to appeal
Believed to be first time a senior yakuza member has received death sentence"
"A yakuza boss has been sentenced to death in Japan in what is believed to be a first after his criminal organisation murdered and attacked other citizens.
Satoru Nomura, 74, told the judge Fukuoka District Court, in western Japan, on Tuesday: 'I asked for a fair decision… You will regret this for the rest of your life,' Nishinippon Shimbun newspaper reported.
It is believed to be the first time a senior yakuza member has been sentenced to death, the BBC reported.
Nomura, the head of the 'Kudo-kai' crime syndicate in southwest Japan, denied accusations he had masterminded the violent assaults. Kudo-kai is often described as Japan's 'most violent' yakuza gang.
According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, there was no direct evidence that Nomura had ordered the attacks.
However, in handing down the sentence, the judge said that the gang operated under such strict rules that it was unthinkable that attacks could have been carried out without its leader's authorisation.
The trial revolved around attacks carried out by Kudo-kai members between 1998 and 2014. During that time, a former head of a fishing cooperative was shot and killed, and three others - including a nurse and former police officer - were injured by shooting or stabbing."
more/sauce: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9922947/Yakuza-boss-sentenced-death-Japan.html