07-26-2018, 02:03 PM
Japan executes the six remaining Aum Shinrikyo members on its Death Row for for cult-related murders.
TOKYO
UPDATE 13:30
Japan executed Thursday all six former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult who remained on death row following the execution of founder Shoko Asahara and six other members earlier this month, the justice minister said.
The six — Satoru Hashimoto, Toru Toyoda, Kenichi Hirose, Yasuo Hayashi, Masato Yokoyama and Kazuaki Okazaki — were convicted of involvement in one or more of three crimes — the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, another sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in 1994, and the murders of a lawyer, his wife and their baby son in 1989.
"I ordered the executions after giving it careful repeated consideration," said Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, adding she gave the green light Tuesday.
"The suffering of the victims, bereaved families and those who survived are unimaginable," she said.
Asahara, the mastermind of the series of crimes committed by the cult, was executed along with six of his former followers on July 6, nearly 12 years after his death sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in September 2006.
The crimes, which courts said were committed to further Asahara's bid to "control Japan in the name of salvation," resulted in the deaths of 29 people among a total of over 6,500 victims.
Japan has faced persistent international criticism for its death penalty.
The executions came at a time when the country is preparing for the abdication of Emperor Akihito in 2019, which will end the current Heisei era that started after Emperor Hirohito's death in 1989. With the cult's crimes being the deadliest terror attacks in the country during the era, the authorities decided to draw a line under them before the era comes to a close, according to sources.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference the justice minister "must have made the decision in light of upcoming schedules among various other factors."
Trials over the cult's crimes ended this January, meaning there was no need to keep the executions of the 13 on hold for trials of accomplices.
All 13 Aum death row inmates were initially kept at the Tokyo detention center, but seven of them were transferred to other facilities across the country in March, fanning speculation they could be executed anytime.
The order in which the inmates were executed apparently reflects ranks within the cult as the first group of inmates put to death were the leader and senior members who were described as ministers or secretaries in the cult, which adopted an organizational structure resembling the national government.
Lawyer Taro Takimoto, who was subjected to an Aum sarin attack, said the latest executions were "cruel," writing on his blog he wondered how the six executed Thursday must have felt during the 20 days since Asahara and the first six were hanged.
Japanese security authorities are stepping up vigilance and closely monitoring Aum's successor organizations — Aleph and two splinter groups.
Aum Shinrikyo evolved from a yoga school established by Asahara in 1984 and had about 1,400 live-in followers and over 10,000 lay followers at its height.
The doomsday cult also attracted over 30,000 other followers in Russia, which designated the group a terrorist organization in 2016. A senior member was arrested in Russia in May for recruiting others, indicating it is still active overseas.
https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Ja...ow-inmates
TOKYO
UPDATE 13:30
Japan executed Thursday all six former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult who remained on death row following the execution of founder Shoko Asahara and six other members earlier this month, the justice minister said.
The six — Satoru Hashimoto, Toru Toyoda, Kenichi Hirose, Yasuo Hayashi, Masato Yokoyama and Kazuaki Okazaki — were convicted of involvement in one or more of three crimes — the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, another sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in 1994, and the murders of a lawyer, his wife and their baby son in 1989.
"I ordered the executions after giving it careful repeated consideration," said Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, adding she gave the green light Tuesday.
"The suffering of the victims, bereaved families and those who survived are unimaginable," she said.
Asahara, the mastermind of the series of crimes committed by the cult, was executed along with six of his former followers on July 6, nearly 12 years after his death sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in September 2006.
The crimes, which courts said were committed to further Asahara's bid to "control Japan in the name of salvation," resulted in the deaths of 29 people among a total of over 6,500 victims.
Japan has faced persistent international criticism for its death penalty.
The executions came at a time when the country is preparing for the abdication of Emperor Akihito in 2019, which will end the current Heisei era that started after Emperor Hirohito's death in 1989. With the cult's crimes being the deadliest terror attacks in the country during the era, the authorities decided to draw a line under them before the era comes to a close, according to sources.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference the justice minister "must have made the decision in light of upcoming schedules among various other factors."
Trials over the cult's crimes ended this January, meaning there was no need to keep the executions of the 13 on hold for trials of accomplices.
All 13 Aum death row inmates were initially kept at the Tokyo detention center, but seven of them were transferred to other facilities across the country in March, fanning speculation they could be executed anytime.
The order in which the inmates were executed apparently reflects ranks within the cult as the first group of inmates put to death were the leader and senior members who were described as ministers or secretaries in the cult, which adopted an organizational structure resembling the national government.
Lawyer Taro Takimoto, who was subjected to an Aum sarin attack, said the latest executions were "cruel," writing on his blog he wondered how the six executed Thursday must have felt during the 20 days since Asahara and the first six were hanged.
Japanese security authorities are stepping up vigilance and closely monitoring Aum's successor organizations — Aleph and two splinter groups.
Aum Shinrikyo evolved from a yoga school established by Asahara in 1984 and had about 1,400 live-in followers and over 10,000 lay followers at its height.
The doomsday cult also attracted over 30,000 other followers in Russia, which designated the group a terrorist organization in 2016. A senior member was arrested in Russia in May for recruiting others, indicating it is still active overseas.
https://japantoday.com/category/crime/Ja...ow-inmates
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.