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NEWS: Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in Kyoto Animation Arson Case


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Rob19ny



Joined: 13 Jun 2020
Posts: 1976
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 4:18 am Reply with quote
Proper punishment would be to make him experience what those 36 people (& 32 wounded) experienced as they died.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24175
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:02 am Reply with quote
I absolutely loathe what he did, but he's clearly mentally ill. He needs to be locked away, of course, but humans shouldn't be killed because of what their broken minds lead them to do.
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Cryten



Joined: 19 Jan 2019
Posts: 1144
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:22 am Reply with quote
Unless someone is so dangerous they cannot be contained I would rather someone has the opportunity to contribute something to this world rather then to remove them from it.
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RenimLS



Joined: 26 Mar 2014
Posts: 135
Location: North America
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:35 am Reply with quote
For a person "mentally ill," he had more than enough mental faculties to recognize he should try and flee the crime scene and police. I hope the prosecution gets their request, as having taken the lives of 36 people and injuring 34 more, that means he has removed 36 people from this world who could have contributed amazing things to this world and potentially stripped 33 more of being able to do the same. Sparing him just because he "could" potentially be redeemed and contribute something wonderful to this world is ignoring the many more people he took away from this world who each could have done the same.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3569
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 6:43 am Reply with quote
While he deserves a harsh punishment for what he did, I'm against death penalty on principle. I don't think it belongs in any real civilized country.
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Gnarth



Joined: 06 Oct 2023
Posts: 175
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 7:12 am Reply with quote
On a philosophical level, I don't like the idea of laws being able to enact murder; in practice though, I won't feel bad in the slightest if the sentence goes through. We're talking about someone who killed 36 innocents in cold blood, that is so sickeningly, inhumanly evil there's absolutely no room for any "but he's mentally ill" arguments to reduce liability.
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Thundercracker



Joined: 22 Feb 2023
Posts: 54
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 7:20 am Reply with quote
He deserves something worse than death.
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SinisterOracle



Joined: 13 May 2023
Posts: 397
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 7:21 am Reply with quote
I used to be against the death penalty but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that sometimes it’s a necessary thing in certain circumstances. This man not only had the mental capacity to plan the crime, but he also had the capacity to execute the crime and to also attempt to cover up his crime. That doesn’t sound like someone who is not mentally competent to me. If he is not given the death penalty then I hope he is given an even worse existence for the remainder of his life, as he has surely earned it.
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lucio542



Joined: 11 Apr 2015
Posts: 292
Location: Brazil
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 8:14 am Reply with quote
He totally deserves it, that would be the best with a guy like this.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 10033
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 8:16 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Meanwhile, the defense is seeking for Aoba's acquittal or a reduced sentence, arguing that he was suffering from delusions at the time of the attack.

But the prosecutors have argued that even though Aoba may have been deluded, he can still be held fully responsible for his actions. According to the prosecutors, Aoba wrongly believed that Kyoto Animation had plagiarized a novel he submitted in a contest to the company.


Even if his delusion had been true, or he had a valid reason to believe that it was true, it didn't even begin to justify what he did. If that was the extent of his delusion, he needs to receive the maximum penalty under the law. If he was delusional in all aspects of his life he needs to spend the balance of his life in a mental institution. Under no circumstances should he see the light of day ever again.
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-Matthew-



Joined: 12 Mar 2022
Posts: 1565
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 9:10 am Reply with quote
Even death of such "man" can't bring back all the amazing staff. He deserves it without any hesitation.
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Riku157



Joined: 27 Jun 2022
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 10:36 am Reply with quote
Cryten wrote:
Unless someone is so dangerous they cannot be contained I would rather someone has the opportunity to contribute something to this world rather then to remove them from it.


Just curious since I'm aware others have that logic, but are you taking into account the amount of resources that would be required to help him and turn him around into a productive member of society? Since from what I know of the case it doesn't seem like an easy task to turn him around and ensure he does more good than bad by the time he dies.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 10:49 am Reply with quote
Good, the arsonist needs to dangle for his crimes. I do feel for the poor doc that had to treat the man though.
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2326
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 11:00 am Reply with quote
I have strong moral objections to the death penalty and believe it should be abolished, in my own country and others.

I also believe that Shinji Aoba should be given the maximum possible sentence under Japanese law.

As I have no influence over how he will be sentenced myself, I feel no pressing need to resolve this contradiction.
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chronos02



Joined: 25 Feb 2009
Posts: 272
PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 11:21 am Reply with quote
The death penalty is pretty useless, the amount of resources to kill a person are no joke and dwarve in comparison to what it costs to keep them alive.

This person should work to not only cover for his own expenses to get shelter and basic needs, but also to compensate for the loss he has braught upon those families, friends, and society at large. It's plain obvious he should be confined to some capacity to avoid a similar case from repeating itself, but should otherwise be able to recover enough that he poses no immediate danger to anyone, he could then study some more or use his already acquired knowledge for something useful. For all we know, even a murderer could discover something that could potentially save millions of lives, he is a useful potential resource for society at large if he stays alive, while he is a sunken cost if he's offed, as well as a huge loss due to the heavy investment the country has done in him to educate him, to provide him with an environment where he can become useful to himself as well as to others.

To give some numbers, dying in a developed country costs around $25,000, and this is for a "Natural" death, but in this case, the person is to be sacrificed in the name of something, which incurs additional costs: the executioner, the use of the execution room, the vast amounts of people and fixed costs needed just for that one moment; add to this the costs of office and public officials and whatnots, notifications about this to the local government, publishing of the news by official channels (not the news outlets or whatever), and a long, long, loooong etc. This makes the average cost of an execution a wooping 1 million USD, or around 160M Yen, and this is for an average basic execution. (data taken from USA executions, ranging from prior to the trial to the right before pressing the "button"). This can go to as high as almost 12M USD for a single average case.
An alternative sentence costs significantly less, at around 70% less than the death penalty cost.
It seems to me that keeping a person cared for with minimal basic needs is a lot cheaper in comparison, moreso if said person works, even from prison, to cover for those costs.

Of course, this data is form the USA, not Japan, and costs are likely to be different, but not by much.

Additionally, and this data is taken from chatGPT, so take it with a grain of salt (or spoonfull). A single individual, from the day they were born, up to the day they die, costs an average of 11.5 million yen to the country of Japan. Simply multiply this value for the age of this person to know how much money Japan will be throwing to the trash by executing him, and add that to the cost calculated above.


Anyway, I just find it baffling that this person will get the easy way out instead of paying for his crime, moreso at the expense of Japanese society at large.

If anything at least keep him alive, force him to be healthy, and then use him as an organ bag, as dystopian as this might sound, at least it'l be beneficial for society, even if it's still a loss.
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