Jul 06 (Japan Times) - Shoko Asahara, founder of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo and mastermind behind the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system - and a number of other horrific crimes in the 1980s and ’90s - was executed on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
According to government sources, six other condemned Aum members — Tomomasa Nakagawa, 55, Kiyohide Hayakawa, 68, Yoshihiro Inoue, 48, Masami Tsuchiya, 53, and Seiichi Endo, 58, and Tomomitsu Niimi, 54, — were also executed.
In total, Asahara, 63, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, was found guilty for his role in 13 crimes that led to the deaths of 27 people that later was increased to 29. In the Tokyo subway attack, 13 people were killed and more than 6,000 injured.
The death penalty for the guru of the now-disbanded cult was first handed down by the Tokyo District Court in February 2004 and finalized by the Supreme Court in September 2006.
The crimes he was convicted of also include the murders of lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife and their 1-year-old son in November 1989 and another sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in June 1994. That attack killed eight and left about 600 injured.
Asahara’s execution was delayed while the lengthy court proceedings involving other key Aum followers accused of complicity in the crimes played out, all of which concluded on Jan. 25 of this year.
In addition to Asahara, 191 Aum members were indicted over a number of criminal acts — including murders, attempted murders, abductions and the production of deadly nerve gases and illegal automatic rifles. Twelve had their death penalty sentences finalized.
