20 minutes – Sektenguru Asahara was executed in Japan

His face symbolizes the trauma of a nation: 23 years after the toxic gas attack in the Tokyo subway, the founder of the Aum-endemic sect, Shoko Asahara, was executed in Japan. The media reported Friday, citing informed circles.

In addition to the 63-year-old Asahara, other members of the sect were executed. The number of perpetrators of the maximum sentence imposed was not clear at the outset. These are the first executions following the law of March 20, 1995. In the morning, members of the sect stabbed several trains of sarin bags, releasing the deadly nerve gas.

Thirteen dead – thousands wounded

The act was held just under the governmental district of the Japanese capital. 13 people died, more than 6000 were wounded. The large number of victims is explained by the fact that only one milligram of the phosphorus compound can cause respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest within minutes.

Asahara was arrested on May 16, 1995 after the first poison gas attack in the world. At the end of an unprecedented trial marathon in Japanese legal history, in 2006, a Tokyo court sentenced to death the half-blind guru and twelve of his supporters with a total of 27 dead and more murders. More than 190 Aum members were brought to justice

For years on death row

Asahara and other members of Aum Shinrikyo ("Supreme Truth ") are in the death row. waited for their execution. The sectarian founder, Chizuo Matsumoto, remained silent or unintelligible throughout his trial.

In January of this year, the final trial of the members of the sect was concluded. In March, 7 out of 13 people sentenced to death were transferred from their detention center in Tokyo to other prisons. This is considered in Japan as proof that their execution by the strand is approaching.

Criticism of Work

With the attack on the underground, the sect wanted a planned police raid against its headquarters on Prevent the feet of the sacred mountain Fuji. Critics complained later that the authors were labeled as inhumane monsters instead of analyzing the context of the disaster in more detail. Thus, it has not been sufficiently investigated what led to the crimes and in what social context it happened. The Japanese company has thus missed an opportunity to learn from the case.

Experts have warned in the past that executions may make the perpetrators martyred in the eyes of their followers. Japan, the third largest economy in the world, is one of the few industrialized countries to apply the death penalty.

(scl / sda)