Japan executes last of the Aum sarin attackers

Japan has executed six more members of the cult behind the deadly 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway.

A commuter being treated by an emergency medical team on March 20, 1995 after the sarin attack on the Tokyo subway. Picture: AFP

Japan yesterday executed six more members of the cult behind the deadly 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, weeks after the group’s leader was hanged.

Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa confirmed the six Aum Shinrikyo cult members remaining on death row had been executed in the morning.

“I ordered the executions after extremely careful consideration,” she said.

The executions come after authorities hanged guru Shoko Asahara and six of his one-time followers earlier this month, after years on death row.

Yesterday’s executions draw a line under years of legal wrangling. But those affected by the Aum’s crimes said it would be hard to simply move on.

“With the 13 members executed, perhaps the case is closed from the point of view of criminal justice,” said Shizue Takahashi, whose husband was killed in the subway attack.

“(But) the damage done to the victims continues even after the executions. I find it very hard.”

Shoko Asahara in 1990. Picture: AFP

The additional executions had been widely expected, and while Japan is one of the few ­developed nations to retain the death penalty, public support for it remains high despite international criticism.

“I think we can’t avoid capital punishment for those who have committed extremely heinous crimes,” Ms Kamikawa said.

Authorities reportedly wanted to execute all Aum members on death row before the emperor abdicates next year, which will start a new imperial era.

The March 20, 1995, attack on the Tokyo subway during peak hour killed 13 people and injured thousands. Aum members have also been convicted of an ­additional sarin attack in the town of Matsumoto the year ­before the Tokyo attack, as well as the murder of an anti-cult lawyer and his family.

Asahara’s execution set off a battle among his family for his remains, with his wife and ­several children who are in successor cults to the Aum seeking to obtain them. He was cremated and his youngest daughter, who has broken with the cults, said she would receive his ashes.

Local media reported that the ashes would be scattered at sea to avoid creating a pilgrimage site for Asahara’s followers.

The hanging of Asahara and six other Aum members was Japan’s largest simultaneous ­execution since 1911, when 11 people were put to death for plotting to assassinate the emperor.

AFP