Free Republic

Shoko Asahara, founder of the doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo and mastermind behind the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway system — and a number of other horrific crimes in the 1980s and ’90s — was executed on Friday, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa confirmed. She also confirmed that six other condemned Aum members — Tomomasa Nakagawa, 55, Kiyohide Hayakawa, 68, Yoshihiro Inoue, 48, Masami Tsuchiya, 53, Seiichi Endo, 58, and Tomomitsu Niimi, 54 — were also executed. In total, Asahara, 63, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, was found guilty for his role in 13 crimes that led...

In Japan, a senior member of the doomsday cult responsible for a deadly nerve gas attack on a Tokyo subway has been sentenced to death. Tomomasa Nakagawa is the tenth member of the Aum Supreme Truth cult to receive the death penalty. Nakagawa bowed to the judge after the verdict was handed down. The court ruled that the 41-year-old played a "key role" in releasing sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system in 1995. The attack killed 12 people and injured thousands. The trials stemming from the incident will soon reach a climax. Shoko Asahara, the leader of the cult,...