30/06/2025 (Agence Europe) – On 27 June, the European Union delegation, together with the diplomatic missions of its Member States and those of Iceland, Norway and Switzerland in Japan, issued a joint statement strongly condemning the execution of Takahiro Shiraishi on the same day - the first under Japan’s current government. Reaffirming their firm opposition to capital punishment “in all circumstances”, they stress its incompatibility with the inalienable right to life and its ineffectiveness as a deterrent. They urge Japan to impose a moratorium on executions, to undertake a thorough review of the death penalty and to promote a broad, evidence-based public debate with a view to its eventual abolition. (PLD)