03:06 – Japan: execution of at least 2 ex-members of the Aum sect

At least two ex-members of the Aum Vérité Suprême sect, responsible for the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, were executed on Thursday morning, adding to the seven already hanged at the beginning of the month, according to Japanese media. The Ministry of Justice, contacted by AFP, has not confirmed in the immediate future, but a press conference of Minister Yoko Kamikawa is scheduled later in the day, according to the NHK public channel. A total of 13 former members of the Aum sect were sentenced to death several years ago, including guru Shoko Asahara (whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto), who was executed earlier this month along with six followers. Some 190 other members of the sect were also sentenced to various sentences. On March 20, 1995, according to a very thoughtful process, several members of the occult organization Aum Supreme Truth, created by Shoko Asahara, spread sarin gas in subway trains converging on the administrative heart of the capital. No one understood immediately what was happening at this early hour, during the peak period, when many pbadengers were leaving by suffocating various subway lines. In December 1999, the Aum cult, which welcomed up to 10,000 worshipers, officially recognized its responsibility for the Tokyo and Matsumoto metro attacks for the first time. The first capital punishment for the 1995 bombing was pronounced in September 1999. Shoko Asahara had his sentence confirmed in 2006 and waited until July 6th. The sarin attack killed 13 people and poisoned another 6,300. Aum is held in total responsible for the deaths of 29 people and 6,500 wounded. Japanese law states that death row prisoners must be executed within six months of the confirmation of their sentence, but in practice they often remain in the death row for years. (Belga)

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