Japan executes last six cult members of sarin attack

Reuters - Japanese Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa announced on Thursday (July 26) the execution of the final six members of the doomsday cult group Aum Shinrikyo that perpetrated the deadly sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway in 1995. All 13 members of the cult that were on death row have now been executed, after Chizuo Matsumoto, the cult's former leader who went by the name Shoko Asahara, and six other members of the group were hanged on July 6. Kamikawa repeatedly said the executions were carried out after careful deliberation and in consideration of the fear, pain and sadness inflicted on many of the victims of the cult's crimes. She added that Japan is not ready to abolish the death penalty despite overseas pressure. The Aum Shinrikyo staged a series of crimes including simultaneous sarin gas attacks on subway trains during rush hour in March 1995. The main attack on Tokyo killed 13 people and injured at least 5,800 people, shattering the nation's myth of public safety.