[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

July 6



JAPAN----executions

Japan Executes Leader of Doomsday Cult----Aum Shinrikyo head Chizuo Matsumoto, 
also known as Shoko Asahara, had been on death row since 2004



The head of a Japanese doomsday cult and 6 of his followers convicted for 
deadly gas attacks in the 1990s were executed on Friday, Japan's justice 
minister said.

Cult leader Chizuo Matsumoto, also known as Shoko Asahara, had been on death 
row since 2004.

During morning rush hour on March 20, 1995, members of the cult he led, Aum 
Shinrikyo, punctured plastic bags with sarin nerve gas on 3 Tokyo subway lines, 
killing 13 people and injuring more than 6,000.

The attack shook the image of Japan as a safe and orderly society, as victims 
suffered excruciating pain, many of them sprawled on the streets and subway 
platforms.

Matsumoto, who was 63 years old, was 1 of 13 cult members sentenced to hang for 
their part in the attack. An earlier sarin gas attack by the cult in central 
Japan in 1994 killed 7 people.

The cult also used other nerve agents against Japanese citizens, including VX, 
which was used to kill the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last 
year.

A 1999 report on antiterrorism capabilities by the Gilmore Commission in the 
U.S. said that Aum Shinrikyo at one point had enough sarin to kill 4.2 million 
people, in addition to other biochemical weapons such as anthrax.

Aum Shinrikyo was formed by Matsumoto in the 1980s. It practiced a mixture of 
Buddhism and Hinduism before turning into a paranoid apocalyptic cult centered 
on its leader, who claimed to be a messiah.

The group set up a commune at the foot of Mount Fuji where Matsumoto preached 
to his followers and Aum's scientists produced nerve gas.

Aum had about 10,000 members in Japan at its peak in the 1990s, and thousands 
more in Russia and other countries. A successor group of the cult remains 
active in Japan with around 1,500 members, according to the police.

Matsumoto, who was partially blind and instantly recognizable to many Japanese, 
lost his final appeal to overturn his death sentence in September 2006. He 
rarely spoke and didn't testify in court.

After Matsumoto was hanged at a detention center in Tokyo, 6 other senior 
figures in the cult were executed in major cities across Japan, Justice 
Minister Yoko Kamikawa said at a press conference.

Ms. Kamikawa listed more than a dozen criminal convictions against Matsumoto 
and others in the group, including the 1989 murder of an anti-Aum lawyer, his 
wife and 1-year-old son. In the 1994 attack, Aum members sprayed sarin gas at a 
local apartment complex where judges hearing a case against the cult resided.

Matsumoto imagined he would one day rule Japan as a king and produced deadly 
gases to pursue his goal, Ms. Kamikawa said.

Death sentences are only carried out in Japan when all court proceedings 
against the accused and others in related cases have concluded. Expectations 
rose that Matsumoto would be executed when the country's Supreme Court upheld a 
ruling of life imprisonment earlier this year for a cult member, the last open 
case against the group.

Japan carries out a few executions most years, always by hanging and almost 
always for murder. The previous executions were late last year, of 2 men 
convicted of murder.

Opinion polls generally show strong public support in Japan for the death 
penalty. Activists who oppose it highlight how prisoners can spend years on 
death row but are usually only given a few hours' notice of their execution.

"The majority of people [in Japan] think the death penalty is necessary for 
extremely brutal and malicious crimes," Ms. Kamikawa said.

Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the police were on alert for any 
attempts at retaliation for the executions.

(source: Wall Street Journal)

************************

Executions of 7 Aum cult members fails to deliver justice



The executions in Japan of 7 members of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) 
on Friday, including the group's "guru", Chizuo Matsumoto, does not deliver 
justice, Amnesty International said.

The executions are the 1st among the 13 people convicted and sentenced to death 
for their roles in the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and 
other illegal activities. The subway attack killed 13 people and left thousands 
more suffering the effects of the nerve gas.

"Today's executions are unprecedented in recent memory for Japan. The attacks 
carried out by Aum were despicable and those responsible deserve to be 
punished. However, the death penalty is never the answer," said Hiroka Shoji, 
East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International.

"Justice demands accountability but also respect for everyone's human rights. 
The death penalty can never deliver this as it is the ultimate denial of human 
rights."

The 7 people executed in the early hours of Friday morning were: Chizuo 
Matsumoto, Tomomasa Nakagawa, Tomomitsu Niimi, Kiyohide Hayakawa, Yoshihiro 
Inoue, Seiichi Endo and Masami Tsuchiya. The executions were carried out at 
detention centres across Japan. Some of those hanged may have had requests for 
a retrial pending.

In March, Japan again rejected recommendations to reform the country's death 
penalty system. The recommendations were put forward by other states as part of 
a formal review of Japan's human rights record at the United Nations.

"Instead of repeating the claim that executions are unavoidable because the 
public demands it, the Japanese government needs to step up and show leadership 
on human rights," said Hiroka Shoji.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception 
regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender or 
the method used by the state to carry out the execution and has been 
campaigning for abolition of the death penalty for over 40 years.

(source: Amnesty International)

*********************

Japan executes sarin gas attack cult leader Shoko Asahara and 6 members----Aum 
Shinrikyo???s sarin nerve attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995 killed 13 people 
and caused illness among thousands of others



The former leader of the doomsday cult that carried out a fatal gas attack on 
the Tokyo subway in March 1995 was executed on Friday .

Shoko Asahara, who masterminded the attack in which 13 people died and more 
than 6,000 others fell ill, was hanged at a detention centre.

Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, confirmed Asahara???s 
execution. The justice ministry later confirmed that 6 other senior cult 
members were executed on the same day.

"I think it's right that he was executed," said Shizue Takahashi, whose 
husband, a subway worker, died after removing 1 of the sarin packages.

"My husband's parents and my parents are already dead," she added. "I think 
they would find it regrettable that they could not have heard the news of this 
execution."

Kiyoe Iwata, whose daughter died in the attack, said the news had given her 
peace of mind. "I have always been wondering why it had to be my daughter and 
why she had to be killed," she told public broadcaster NHK. "Now I can visit 
her grave and tell her this news."

Asahara's execution was the 1st of 13 former Aum members who have been 
condemned to death.

His Aum Supreme Truth cult, which combined a bizarre mix of Buddhist and Hindu 
meditation along with Christian and apocalyptic teachings, yoga and the occult, 
once boasted more than 10,000 followers in Japan and an estimated 30,000 in 
Russia.

Its members included graduates of Japan's best universities, who were attracted 
by promises that they would survive the coming Armageddon - a nuclear attack by 
the US - by developing sarin, a nerve agent invented by the Nazis, at the 
cult's compound in the foothills of Mount Fuji.

Asahara, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, had also been found guilty of 
masterminding a 1994 attack on a city in northern Japan in which 8 people died 
and more than 100 were injured.

The former cult leader had exhausted all of his appeals after he was sentenced 
to death in 2004.

The Tokyo subway gas attack began shortly before 8am on 20 March 1995, when 5 
members of the cult punctured plastic bags containing liquid sarin with the 
sharpened tips of their umbrellas before fleeing.

As the gas spread inside packed subway carriages, commuters started to cough 
and struggle for breath. Some of those who made it on to platforms and upstairs 
to street level collapsed, foaming at the mouth and coughing up blood.

Survivors recalled smelling something that resembled paint thinner before 
starting to cough uncontrollably. "Liquid was spread on the floor in the middle 
of the carriage, people were convulsing in their seats. One man was leaning 
against a pole, his shirt open, bodily fluids leaking out," Sakae Ito, who was 
inside on one of the carriages, told Agence France-Presse.

TV footage showed members of self-defence forces, dressed in hazmat suits and 
full face masks, descending flights of stairs, still unaware of what had caused 
the incident.

The attack was the worst terrorist incident on Japanese soil and rocked the 
country's faith in its reputation for public safety.

Asahara eluded arrest for 2 months until he was discovered hiding in a tiny 
space concealed behind a wall, along with piles of cash and a sleeping bag, at 
the cult's compound.

Aum was banned but resurfaced in 2000 as Aleph, whose members claimed they had 
disowned Asahara and agreed to pay compensation to the gas attack victims.

There have been claims, however, that some continue to follow Asahara's 
teachings and keep photographs of him and audio recordings of his voice for 
inspiration.

Several dozen members living at Aleph's headquarters, 3 ageing apartment blocks 
in suburban Tokyo, are kept under 24-hour surveillance.

Born in 1955 on the southwestern island of Kyushu, Asahara, who was virtually 
blind, was regarded as a charismatic leader who began to draw recruits to Aum, 
which had originally started as a yoga school, in the 1980s.

A vengeful Asahara started targeting members of the public after he and 24 
other Aum members unsuccessfully ran in upper house elections in 1990, 
according to prosecutors.

Aleph and 2 smaller splinter groups have about 1,650 followers in Japan and 
about 460 in Russia, and hold more than 1 billion yen (US$9m) in assets, Kyodo 
news said, citing data from Japan's public security intelligence agency.

Human rights campaigners condemned the use of the death penalty against Aum 
members.

Amnesty International said Friday's executions "do not deliver justice."

(source: The Guardian)

***************

Japan death row executions: hangings secretive, backed by public



Japan on Friday executed the leader and 6 members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday 
cult that carried out a deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, 
killing 13 people.

Japan is 1 of only 2 members of the Group of Seven advanced democracies to 
execute criminals. The United States is the other.

EXECUTION BY HANGING

Japanese death row inmates are executed by hanging. 3 prison officers 
simultaneously press buttons to open the trap door so it is not clear which one 
is responsible.

Between 2012-2016, 24 people were executed, according to the most recent 
justice ministry data.

Unlike in the United States where execution dates are set in advance and made 
public, inmates in Japan are notified on the morning of their execution, 
usually about an hour before. The U.N. Committee against Torture has criticized 
Japan for "the psychological strain" on inmates and their families.

Only prison officials and a priest are present.

Hangings are announced afterwards. Since 2007 the justice ministry has released 
the names and crimes of those executed.

The 7 executed on Friday at several facilities around Japan was the largest 
number executed at one time since 1998, when the justice ministry started 
releasing information on executions, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa told a news 
conference.

APPEALS

Those sentenced to death can appeal up to the Supreme Court. The multiple 
AUM-related trials lasted more than 20 years.

Convicted inmates can seek a retrial even after a Supreme Court ruling, but 
this does not guarantee a stay of execution. Several of those executed on 
Friday may have had requests for retrials pending, Amnesty International said.

The law says an execution must take place within 6 months of the sentence being 
finalised by the courts, but in practice it usually takes several years. The 
justice minister decides the timing.

PUBLIC SUPPORT

A 2015 government survey found that 80.3 % of people supported the death 
penalty. That compares with 54 % in the United States.

"I believe imposing a death penalty on those whose crimes are extremely grave 
and atrocious is inevitable," Kamimawa, the justice minister, said on Friday. 
Anti-death penalty activists say a lack of information and increased interest 
in victims' rights are partly behind the support.

In 2010, then-justice minister Keiko Chiba, who opposed the death penalty, 
signed off on 2 executions and opened an execution chamber to media for the 1st 
time, hoping to stimulate debate.

In 2016, a lawyers' group called for the abolition of the death penalty by 
2020, citing the possibility of wrongful convictions and international trends 
against capital punishment.

(source: Reuters)

*************************

Capital punishment in Japan: Unscheduled executions and hangings witnessed only 
by prison officials and a priest



Japan and the United States are the only 2 members of the Group of Seven 
advanced economies that have the death penalty.

Japanese death row inmates are executed by hanging. 3 prison officers 
simultaneously press buttons to open the trap door so it is not clear which one 
is responsible.

Between 2012-2016, 24 people were executed, according to the most recent 
Justice Ministry data.

Unlike in the United States where execution dates are set in advance and made 
public, inmates in Japan are notified on the morning of their execution, 
usually about an hour before. The U.N. Committee against Torture has criticized 
Japan for "the psychological strain" on inmates and their families.

Only prison officials and a priest are present.

Hangings are announced after the inmate is taken to the gallows. Since 2007 the 
ministry has released the names and crimes of those executed.

The 7 Aum Shinrikyo members executed Friday at several facilities around the 
country may have been the largest number executed at any one time, said Akiko 
Takada of the anti-death penalty group Forum 90. A Justice Ministry official 
could not immediately confirm the claim.

Those sentenced to death can appeal up to the Supreme Court. The multiple 
Aum-related trials lasted more than 20 years.

Convicted inmates can seek a retrial even after a Supreme Court ruling, but 
this does not guarantee a stay of execution. Several of those executed Friday 
may have had requests for retrials pending, Amnesty International said.

The law says an execution must take place within 6 months of the sentence being 
finalized by the courts, but in practice it usually takes several years. The 
justice minister decides the timing.

The government, urged by the United Nations Human Rights Council to abolish the 
death penalty, said in 2008 it could not because public opinion favored it for 
"extremely vicious crimes."

A 2014 government survey found that 80.3 % of people supported the death 
penalty. That compares with 54 % in the United States.

Anti-death penalty activists say a lack of information and increased interest 
in victims' rights are partly behind the support.

In 2010, then-Justice Minister Keiko Chiba, who opposed the death penalty, 
signed off on 2 executions and opened an execution chamber to media for the 
first time, hoping to stimulate debate.

In 2016, a lawyers' group called for the abolition of the death penalty by 
2020, citing the possibility of wrongful convictions and international trends 
against capital punishment.

(source: The Japan Times)

*********************

Ex-head of parents' group gets life term for killing Vietnamese girl



A Japanese court sentenced the former head of a parents' group at an elementary 
school near Tokyo to life in prison on Friday over the 2017 murder of a 
9-year-old Vietnamese girl who attended the school.

While Yasumasa Shibuya, 47, has denied involvement in the death of Le Thi Nhat 
Linh, the Chiba District Court ruled Shibuya can be recognized as the culprit 
as his DNA was found on the girl's body.

"The shock and worry (the defendant) brought upon society and school education 
is unimaginable," Presiding Judge Toshiro Nohara said in handing down the 
ruling.

But the court also rejected prosecutors' call for the death penalty, saying the 
murder of Linh was no more cruel than other crimes of similar nature for which 
culprits have been given life prison terms.

The lay judge trial's focus had been on how credible the police DNA tests are 
and whether a death sentence can be given in a case that resulted in only one 
death.

The defense team appealed the ruling the same day.

The third-grade student at Mutsumi Daini Elementary School in Matsudo, Chiba 
Prefecture, went missing on March 24 last year and was found dead near a 
drainage ditch in the city of Abiko 2 days later.

Shibuya was arrested on April 14 and later indicted on suspicion of abducting 
Linh with his vehicle, and sexually assaulting and strangling her before 
abandoning her body.

While prosecutors said Shibuya's DNA was found on the girl's body and that 
blood and saliva traces matching her DNA were found in Shibuya's vehicle, 
defense lawyers claimed the DNA samples may have been planted by investigators.

During the trial, the prosecutors said Shibuya faces particularly serious blame 
given his position at the time as head of the parents' group watching over 
children on their way to the school.

Linh's father Le Anh Hao had requested the death penalty for Shibuya.

Shibuya said in a court hearing last month, "I wish for a fair judgement for 
the sake of my two children, who are waiting for me and believe in me."

Since the launch of the lay judge system in the country in 2009, there have 
been four district court rulings that sentenced defendants to death over cases 
with a single death. But only one of them has been finalized after the 
defendant withdrew the appeal, while the rest have been reduced to life terms 
in high courts.

***********************

Death penalty unavoidable for heinous crimes: Japan justice minister



Japanese Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said Friday that capital punishment is 
"unavoidable" for heinous crimes, following the execution of AUM Shinrikyo cult 
founder Shoko Asahara and 6 of his followers earlier in the day.

The justice minister told a press conference that she ordered the executions 
after "careful consideration."

(source for both: The Mainichi)

************************

EU urges Japan to abolish death penalty



The European Union and its member states have criticized Japan for the 
executions of the former leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult and 6 of his former 
disciples.

The Delegation of the European Union to Japan and ambassadors of European 
nations issued a joint statement on Friday.

The statement says that the diplomats recognize this is a particularly painful 
and unique case for Japan and its citizens.

It also says that they convey their heartfelt sympathy, share the suffering of 
the victims and their families, and absolutely condemn terrorist attacks, 
whoever the perpetrators and for whatever reason.

However, the document says the death penalty is cruel and inhuman, and fails to 
act as a deterrent to crime.

It says that errors are inevitable in any legal system and are irreversible, 
calling on the Japanese government to adopt a moratorium on executions with a 
view to abolishing them.

(source: nhk.or.jp)








IRAN:

Iranian prison authorities relocate Kurdish man on death row



The family of an Iranian Kurdish prisoner on death row is concerned about his 
safety after he was moved to a cell for detainees facing drug charges amid 
reports authorities have cancelled all leave for staff at the prison where he 
is being held.

Ramin Hossein Panahi was moved within Sanandaj prison on Wednesday, according 
to Hengaw human rights news agency.

Panahi, 22, was arrested in June 2017 and charged with being a member of the 
Kurdish opposition party Komala. Prosecutors said Panahi had received military 
training and was carrying a gun and a grenade at the time of his arrest.

His lawyer denied that Panahi had been armed and said his client was simply 
visiting family at the time of his arrest. Membership in an opposition party is 
not an offence that warrants the death penalty, his lawyer has said.

Panahi's brother is concerned about his safety.

"The head of the intelligence section of Sanandaj prison has threatened Ramin, 
ordering his murder by their own agent in the prison," Amjad Hossain Panahi 
told Rudaw.

"They want to execute Ramin in secret or inside the cell by their own agent," 
he claimed.

Panahi's parents were taken to prison to see their son earlier this week.

Amjad and Hengaw both said that authorities had cancelled leave for prison 
staff for the next 48 hours.

Human rights organizations and activists inside Iran have condemned Panahi's 
sentence and called for his execution to be cancelled. Last month, 40 lawyers 
and activists wrote an open letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appealing on 
Panahi's behalf.

The case has attracted international attention with UN human rights officials 
and Amnesty International both advocating for the Kurdish man.

(source: rudaw.net)








PAKISTAN:

PHC stops execution of 'missing person' convicted by military court



The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday suspended the death sentence handed 
over by a military court to the man, Shakirullah, who according to his family 
had gone missing from Dir in 2010.

A petition opposing the penalty had been filed before the court by the 
convict's wife after which a hearing to decide the matter was scheduled by the 
court.

The session was presided by Justice Qalandar Ali Khan and Justice Ayub Khan.

Earlier in June, Shakirullah's family learnt of the death sentence after 
receiving a notice from the Kohat Interim Centre saying that he was due.

According to the application, the accused was not given an opportunity to be 
heard in a proper trial, as the law mandates and it is the right owed to every 
citizen charged with a crime.

The court ordered the suspension of the death sentence and sought a response 
from the Ministry of Defence at the next hearing of the case.

(source: Pakistan Today)








INDIA:

"Capital punishment for raping minors", says CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan



Addressing the concerns over growing rape incidents in his state, Madhya 
Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said it is painful incident and 
the culprit should not be given anything less than a capital punishment.

When quizzed by a reporter on increasing number of rape cases in his home 
state, Chouhan said, "This incident is not limited to MP alone and is a 
phenomenon across the country." He added such an act of violence against a girl 
child is inhuman. "Such issues need to be dealt urgently."

Chouhan stressed that there should be a fast track court to deal with such 
issue. He urged the Indian courts to act on it.

After the Kathua and Unnao rape case, the centre had approved an ordinance to 
amend the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. This 
ordinance introduces death penalty for the rape of children below the age of 
12. Citing this, Singh said, "There should be capital punishment for such 
culprits." There should be an example set for culprits of such cases.

Recently, reports of rape cases in Madhya Pradesh are on rise. The recent being 
the case of 19-year old, who was promised a job and taken to forest and then 
allegedly raped. Yet another case that caught the national attention was the 
rape of 8-year-old girl, who was abducted outside her school.

(source: freepressjournal.in)