Japan executes Aum Shinrikyo cult leader

International Desk: The leader of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult which carried out a deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995 has been executed.

Japan media are reporting that six other Aum Shinrikyo members have also been executed.

The sarin attack, Japan's worst terror incident, killed 13 people and injured thousands more.

Another six members of the cult are still awaiting execution.

Shoko Asahara's execution, at a Tokyo detention house on Friday morning, was confirmed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

Japanese media reports said six followers were executed shortly after.

The executions had been postponed until all those convicted had completed their final appeals. That happened in January.

On 20 March 1995, cult members released the sarin on the subway in the Japanese capital. They left punctured bags filled with liquid nerve agent on train lines going through Tokyo's political district.

Witnesses described noticing the leaking packages and soon afterwards feeling stinging fumes hitting their eyes.

The toxin struck victims down in a matter of seconds, leaving them choking and vomiting, some blinded and paralysed. Thirteen people died.

In the following months, members of the cult carried out several failed attempts at releasing hydrogen cyanide in various stations.

The attack shocked Japan, a country that prided itself on low crime rates and social cohesion.

Scores of Aum members have faced trial over the attack - 13 were sentenced to death, including Asahara.

Source: BBC


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