A group of former lay judges submitted a petition to the justice minister Monday calling for an immediate halt to capital punishment and greater transparency on how it's carried out.
The petition was compiled by 20 citizens who have participated in criminal trials as lay judges.
Some of the members helped condemn defendants to the gallows and are now "feeling guilty that they will sooner or later become 'indirect murderers' of (fellow) human beings," said former lay judge Masayoshi Taguchi, who is spearheading the move.