Shoko Asahara: The cult leader of the devilish Japan executed 23 years after the Tokyo Sarin bombing

Six other people are still sentenced to death following the 1995 attack and other Aum Shinrikyo crimes. The date of their execution is not known.

Shizue Takahashi, a representative of the group of victims and widow of an employee of Toyko Metro, died during the sarin attack, told reporters that she was "surprised" by this execution sudden.

"When I think of those who died because of them, it was a pity (my husband's parents) and my parents could not hear the news of this execution," he said. -she says. "I wanted (members of the sect) to confess more about the incident, so it's a pity we can not hear their account anymore."

In a statement Friday, Amnesty said that the execution of Asahara and other members of Aum Shinrikyo would not do justice to the Tokyo attack.

"The attacks carried out by Aum are despicable and the officials deserve to be punished, but the death penalty is never the solution," said Hiroka Shoji, a researcher in Asia. Is to Amnesty International. The death penalty can never hold this role because it is the ultimate denial of human rights. "

Deadly Beliefs

Many Asahara scholars were highly educated scientists and engineers , who helped bring to & # 39; huge amounts of & # 39; money to the coffers of the sect.

As worship grew, families of members began to give warning, and brainwashing and abuse complaints within Aum Shinrikyo became more common. Few could have predicted what would happen, and the cult became world famous with the attack on the Tokyo subway in March 1995, when members of Aum Shinrikyo dropped sarin gas on cars filled with commuters during peak hours. The attack killed 13 people and injured 5500.

Asahara and dozens of his supporters were arrested in the following months, after raids across the country

Murderous Worship

Aum Shinrikyo began in November 1989, when attorney Tsutsumi Sakamoto – who was working on a class action against the cult – was brutally murdered with his wife and child. Prosecutors said that members of the sect entered the Sakamotos' house during their sleep, injected lethal doses of potassium chloride and strangled them

the murder of Sakamoto and the growing clamor of members of the sect. Aum Shinrikyo has begun to prepare for the end.

In a sheep farm in the west of rural Australia and other properties, scientists began testing sarin while others synthesized it. VX neurotoxic agent and launched a failed attempt to manufacture automatic rifles.

On June 27, 1994, seven people were killed and more than 500 hospitalized after Aum Shinrikyo released sarin gas from a truck while driving slowly around a complex. apartments in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. Another victim died in 2008.

Subway attack

The Matsumoto attack was a warm-up at the main event, which began almost eight months later on March 20, 1995, according to a report by the Federation of American Scientists.

Five members of Aum Shinrikyo boarded subway cars on three different lines in central Tokyo at rush hour, carrying plastic bags filled with sarin. They punched the bags with the sharpened tips of their umbrellas and left them on luggage racks or on the floor to suck the deadly gas into the cars.

The trains were to arrive at Kasumigaseki Central Station four minutes apart, and the cult was hoping not only to kill everyone on board, but also to use the trains to route the gas to a massive interchange used by thousands of passengers. at a time.

Fortunately, mistakes made in the development of sarin and its method of delivery meant that the attack was much less effective than expected, and the group only managed to kill 12 people and injure 5,500 people. Another victim died later.

According to the FAS report, chemical weapons experts estimate that "tens of thousands could easily have been killed" had the attack been conducted properly.

Arrest and Trial

Dozens of members of Aum Shinrikyo were arrested after months of police raids in hundreds of localities in Japan.

Asahara himself was arrested in May 1995 and charged with 17 counts ranging from murder to the illegal production of weapons and drugs.

His trial – and his appeals process – took years to end and seized Japan, while police continued to search for other members of the sect related to the Tokyo attacks and from Matsumoto. In late 1996, Ashara acknowledged responsibility for the Sarin attack, but said that he was not personally involved in the crime, saying that he had been "instructed by God "to take responsibility. At the same time, he warned the lawyers that they would die if they continued interrogating members of Aum Shinrikyo.

After a trial that lasted eight years, Asahara was found guilty of orchestrating the attack and sentenced to death in 2004. In 2006, he had exhausted the appeal process.

His execution was delayed due to the conspirators, the last of which was arrested in 2012.

Aum Shinrikyo separated into Hikari no Wa and Aleph in 2007, and this last group was arrested. is apologized for the Tokyo attack, that he blames on 'the upper limbs of then Aum Shinrikyo. "The two groups have about 150 and 1,500 followers, respectively, according to Japanese media.

Hikari no Wa's surveillance was lifted last year, but Aleph remains under official surveillance.

James Griffiths reported from Hong Kong, Yoko Wakatsuki reported from Tokyo.

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