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WORLD NEWS Saturday 9 November 2019

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China hands Japanese politician life in prison in drug case

By YANAN WANG seized 18.15 grams of meth-
Associated Press amphetamine at their resi-
BEIJING (AP) — A court in dence.
southern China sentenced Chen said Ali was spotted
an elderly former Japanese on a surveillance camera
politician to life in prison Fri- packing the suitcase, while
day for smuggling drugs in Moxi's fingerprints were
shoes packed inside a suit- found inside the bag.
case he was trying to take The court said the three
to his home country. defendants violated Chi-
A man from Mali was sen- nese customs regulations
tenced to death with a by knowingly trying to
two-year reprieve and a smuggle drugs out of the
Guinean received a life country. It added, how-
sentence for packing and ever, that they were given
delivering the suitcase, relatively light sentences
according to the Guang- because Sakuragi had not
zhou City First Intermediate yet gone through customs
Court. with the drugs at the time
Takuma Sakuragi, 76, of his arrest. Under Chinese
pleaded not guilty and law, Sakuragi will be eligi-
plans to appeal, said his ble for parole after serving
Guangzhou-based lawyer, Chen Weixiong, center, lawyer of former Japanese politician Takuma Sakuragi, leaves the a minimum of 15 years. His
Chen Weixiong, who ar- Guangzhou City First Intermediate Court, seen in the background, after a sentencing in Guangzhou, fate could be affected by
gued there was insufficient southern China Friday, Nov. 8, 2019. developments in China-Ja-
evidence to prove Sakura- Associated Press pan relations, which have
gi was knowingly carrying a designer in Tokyo, Chen drug-related offenses. tenced were identified by been relatively stable in re-
the drugs. said, but in fact metham- He was detained in 2013 their Chinese names — Ali, cent years. Many Chinese
According to Chen, a Nige- phetamine had been hid- when about 3.3 kilograms a citizen of Mali, and Moxi remain deeply bitter over
rian acquaintance asked den in the heels of the (more than 6 pounds) of from Guinea. Death sen- Japan's brutal occupation
Sakuragi to bring what ap- shoes. methamphetamine was tences with two-year re- of parts of the country in
peared to be a suitcase full Sakuragi is a former city found in his luggage, prieves are almost always the 1930s and 1940s and
of women's platform shoes assemblyman from Aichi the court said. Sakuragi commuted to life in prison. the two countries have an
with him back to Japan. in central Japan. Chinese planned to go to Shang- The court said Ali and Moxi ongoing dispute over own-
The acquaintance claimed law exempts people over hai for a connecting flight were responsible for pack- ership of a group of tiny un-
the suitcase was intended 75 from the death penalty, back to Japan, it said. ing and delivering the inhabited islands in the East
for his wife, who works as which is often imposed for The other two men sen- suitcase, and that police China Sea.q

India’s court set to deliver verdict on temple dispute

Associated Press ahead of the verdict. tary forces to prevent any
NEW DELHI (AP) — India's Earlier, he had cautioned attacks by Hindu activists
top court on Saturday will his council of ministers from on Muslims, who comprise
pronounce its verdict in a making unnecessary state- 6% of the town's more than
decades-old land title dis- ments on the issue which 55,500 people.
pute between Muslims and could stoke public senti- Earlier, authorities had
Hindus over plans to build ments. banned the assembly of
a Hindu temple on a site in Appeals for peace have more than four people at
northern India where Hin- also come from Hindu one place in and around
du hard-liners demolished and Muslim organizations Ayodhya, a town in the
a 16th century mosque in and various political lead- northern state of Uttar
1992, sparking deadly reli- ers ahead of the verdict. Pradesh. In this Oct. 29, 1990, file photo, Indian security officer guards the
gious riots. India's home ministry has The Uttar Pradesh govern- Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, closing off the disputed site claimed
The five judges will an- asked all states to be on ment has ordered all the by Muslims and Hindus.
nounce the verdict, ending alert. schools and colleges to re- Associated Press
decades of uncertainty on Authorities increased the main closed until Monday. dead. as his birthplace. They say
the issue. security in Ayodhya, 550 ki- The destruction of the Hindu hard-liners say they the mosque was built after
Prime Minister Narendra lometers (350 miles) east of mosque in 1992 sparked want to build a new tem- a temple dedicated to the
Modi in a series of tweets New Delhi, and deployed massive Hindu-Muslim vio- ple to Hindu god Ram on Hindu god was destroyed
appealed for peace more than 5,000 paramili- lence that left 2,000 people the site, which they revere by Muslim invaders. q