According to police estimates, there are 24 yakuza gangs in Japan. Kudo-kai, with 280 active members, is not the largest, but it is regarded to be one of the most ruthless, having been suspected of a number of killings and assassinations of local business owners for refusing to participate or pay protection money.
Satoru Nomura, 74, a leader of the organized crime group Kudo-kai, was sentenced to death by a district court in Fukuoka, Japan, on Tuesday, according to the NHK. Nomura was guilty of four criminal acts, including one homicide. Nomura is the first yakuza to be sentenced to death.
When Fukuoka prosecutors asked the court to sentence Nomura to death, the Japanese media were keen to point out that the request was unprecedented.
Nomura was put on trial for attacks that took place between 1998 and 2014. He was accused, among other things, of assaulting the chairman of a fisheries cooperative in Kyushu in 1998 and his younger brother in 2014. According to the prosecution, he also ordered the assassination of a police officer who was investigating Kudo-kai, as well as a nurse from a clinic where Nomura was treated because he didn't appreciate her meddling.
I asked for a fair decision... You will regret this for the rest of your life,” the yakuza boss reportedly told the judge.
According to the Japanese news outlet, Nomura pled not guilty because there was no "direct evidence" that he was involved in the crimes. According to the judge, Kudo-kai has such rigorous rules that gangsters cannot operate without the approval and involvement of the organization's leaders. The verdict is expected to be appealed by Nomura's lawyers.
A second gang leader was also found guilty and given a life sentence. Six Kudo-kai officials were arrested in 2014 on suspicion of attempted murder of a restaurant owner who posted a sign prohibiting yakuza members on his establishment's door. The proprietor was stabbed, but he was unharmed.
According to the Japanese news outlet, Nomura pled not guilty because there was no "direct evidence" that he was involved in the crimes. According to the judge, Kudo-kai has such rigorous rules that gangsters cannot operate without the approval and involvement of the organization's leaders. The verdict is expected to be appealed by Nomura's lawyers.
A second gang leader was also found guilty and given a life sentence. Six Kudo-kai officials were arrested in 2014 on suspicion of attempted murder of a restaurant owner who posted a sign prohibiting yakuza members on his establishment's door. The proprietor was stabbed, but he was unharmed.
