Japan on brink of granting Australian troops immunity from death penalty

Tokyo is on the brink of agreeing that Australian troops convicted of serious crimes while in Japan for training will not face the death penalty, according to Japanese media reports. Such a decision would remove a final sticking point in negotiations for a defence cooperation agreement between the two nations, but is expected to prove controversial among the Japanese public given long-standing resentment over its Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States. Under the agreement, US personnel who commit a crime off base must be handed over to US military police and Japanese authorities must request their release…