"Japan says three convicted murderers hanged"

by George Nishiyama (Reuters, November 30, 2000)

TOKYO, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Japan hanged three convicted murderers on Thursday, the eighth straight year it has carried out the death penalty, to the protest of human rights groups which said the executions were speeded up because of Tokyo's political calendar.
The Justice Ministry confirmed the executions, but following recent practice did not disclose the identities of those hanged.
A 52-year-old man convicted of serial murder and robbery, a 57-year-old man found guilty of killing his former wife and her family and a 55-year-old murderer were hanged, Japanese media said.
Thursday's hanging brings the total number of executions to 39 since 1993, when Japan resumed carrying out the death penalty after refraining from it for nearly three and a half years.
Amnesty International, which opposes the death penalty, accused the authorities of rushing to carry out the hangings before a cabinet reshuffle expected as early as next week.
Lawmakers belonging to Forum '90, another group calling for the end of the death penalty, handed a letter of protest to the Vice Justice Minister.
"Today's executions were aimed at avoiding setting a precedent of a year without an execution and a justice minister who did not carry out one. It's very political," the group and Amnesty said in a statement to a told a news conference after their meeting with the vice minister.
Executions require the approval of the justice minister.
All justice ministers since 1993 but one have given the go-ahead for executions. The only exception was a minister who served only for two months.
"They run counter to the global trend of abolishing the death penalty and trample on the United Nations Convention Against the Death Penalty. It cannot be tolerated," the groups added.
Human rights groups have criticised the trend of year-end executions, saying it is aimed at minimising reaction from the general public.
Thursday's hangings were the first since two convicted murderers were executed last December.
But domestic public support for capital punishment has risen in Japan since the doomsday cult Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect) staged a nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway in 1995, which killed 12 and left thousands ill.
Seven former Aum members have received the death sentence for their role.
About 80 percent of respondents to a nationwide poll last year backed the death penalty, the highest level of support since the government started conducting such surveys in 1956.
In the past, authorities refused to confirm executions and conducted them without prior notice to the families of those condemned.

"Ex-AUM cultist member Ishii released from Wakayama prison"

(Kyodo News Service, November 18, 2000)

WAKAYAMA - Hisako Ishii, a former senior cultist in the AUM Shinrikyo sect, left Wakayama prison early Saturday after completing a term she received for helping AUM members allegedly involved in the 1995 Tokyo subway gassing evade arrest and other crimes.
In a statement she made at Kansai airport before leaving for Tokyo's Haneda airport, Ishii, 40, said she feels sorry for the victims of AUM crimes and has no plans to rejoin the cult, which now calls itself Aleph.
Ishii held a news conference after arriving in Tokyo where she said, ''I want to appeal to followers about the mistakes of AUM's dogma to compensate for my guilt.''
Ishii said she wants to bring up her children with her parents' help and return to a normal life as soon as possible, though she realizes the goal will prove difficult to achieve.
Her lawyers said she will probably have trouble trying to transfer her resident registration to the area her parents live. The lawyers and government officials of the area held negotiations over the matter in early August.
Ishii also made a comment that appeared to contradict her promise not to return to the cult. ''I want to know how the organization has changed, and if the religious group contacts me, I will think carefully about it,'' she said.
Ishii said she intends to wait before making an announcement on a series of AUM-related crimes.
Ishii is a onetime close aide of AUM founder Shoko Asahara and has three children by him.
On Feb. 16 last year, the Tokyo District Court sentenced her to three years and eight months in prison for aiding AUM fugitives evade justice, burning a corpse and destroying evidence. She was released Saturday because her sentence included the time Ishii had already spent in detention and during her trial prior to the ruling.
The court ruling said Ishii, who served as AUM's ''finance minister,'' gave 35 million yen in cash and an automobile to several AUM followers immediately after their sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995 which left 12 people dead and injured thousands.
In June 1993, she incinerated the body of an AUM believer who died while undergoing ''religious training'' at a cult facility in Shizuoka Prefecture, the ruling said. Ishii also destroyed evidence concerning AUM's illegal purchase of a plot in Kumamoto Prefecture by submitting a false document to local prosecutors in October 1990.
Ishii did not appeal the district ruling. She told the court she left AUM and no longer believes in its teachings.
Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, is still on trial in a number of criminal cases, including the Tokyo subway gassing.

"AUM facility searched for baking bread without license"

(Kyodo News Service, November 15, 2000)

GIFU, Japan, Nov. 15 (Kyodo) - A food factory owned by the AUM Shinrikyo cult in Gifu Prefecture has been searched by officials of a municipal health center for allegedly baking a large quantity of bread for its members without a license, officials said Wednesday.
The officials said they have found that the factory in Seki was producing 200-300 loaves of bread a day, twice a week, using three bread makers.
After the search, the cult, which has renamed itself Aleph, informed the health center it will stop bread production to avoid generating misunderstanding and will also have the machines removed, the officials said.
The factory has long been licensed to produce candies for cult members but only last month began producing bread, which was not covered by the license, the officials said. Baking bread without a license could constitute a violation of the Food Sanitation Law.
The health center requested that the cult apply for a license but the group refused, saying it is not necessary since the bread was only meant for consumption by its members, according to the officials.
The health center previously conducted a search of the factory in May after receiving a tip that it was producing bread, but the center could not confirm production at that time.
A number of AUM members have been convicted or are on trial in serious criminal cases, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.

"Tokyo ward wants Aum's Joyu evicted"

("Japan Times," November 10, 2000)

The mayor of Tokyo's Katsushika Ward on Thursday demanded that senior Aum Shinrikyo member Fumihiro Joyu, who moved into an apartment in the ward on Tuesday, leave due to residents' concerns.
"We cannot tolerate his stay due to residents' concerns and mental distress," Mayor Isamu Aoki said in a letter handed to Aum by a municipal official.
The municipal government has formed a task force, which is headed by the mayor, and decided in September last year not to accept the residency registrations of Aum members.
Joyu, 37, moved into a room on the fourth floor of a five-story apartment in the ward's Kanamachi district after residing for one month at an apartment in Kita Ward. The two apartments are some 10 km apart.
It was the third time that Joyu has changed addresses within Tokyo since leaving Aum's Yokohama branch in Kanagawa Prefecture on Sept. 20 and moving into a building in Tokyo's Adachi Ward.
Joyu moved to the Yokohama branch after being released from Hiroshima Prison in late December after serving a three-year term for perjury and document falsification.
On Sept. 6 the Yokohama District Court ordered Aum to vacate the Yokohama branch, located in an apartment building, in line with the demands of the building's residents.
Joyu became notorious through his media exposure as Aum's spokesman until his arrest in October 1995.
A number of Aum members have been convicted or are on trial in serious criminal cases, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.

"Tokyo's Katsushika Ward asks AUM's Joyu to leave"

(Kyodo News Service, November 9, 2000)

TOKYO - The mayor of Tokyo's Katsushika Ward on Thursday requested senior AUM Shinrikyo member Fumihiro Joyu, who moved Tuesday night to an apartment in the ward, to leave due to residents' concerns.
''We cannot tolerate his stay due to residents' concerns and mental distress,'' Mayor Isamu Aoki said in a letter handed to AUM by a municipal official.
The municipal government has formed a task force headed by the mayor and decided in September last year not to accept resident registration by AUM members.
Joyu, 37, moved into a room on the fourth floor of a five-story apartment in the ward's Kanamachi district after residing for only one month at an apartment in Kita Ward. The two apartments are some 10 kilometers away.
It was the third time Joyu has moved within Tokyo since evacuating AUM's Yokohama branch in Kanagawa Prefecture on Sept. 20 and moved into a building in Tokyo's Adachi Ward.
Joyu moved to the Yokohama branch after being released from Hiroshima Prison in late December after serving out a three-year term for perjury and document falsification.
On Sept. 6 the Yokohama District Court ordered AUM to vacate the Yokohama branch, located in an apartment building, in line with demands by the building's residents.
Joyu became well-known to the Japanese public through his media exposure as AUM's spokesman until his arrest in October 1995.
A number of AUM members have been convicted or are on trial in serious criminal cases, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.

"Former AUM member gets 8 years for murder"

("Mainichi Shimbun," November 7, 2000)

A "cruel" AUM Shinrikyo follower who stood guard while cronies murdered an unwilling cultist and then microwaved the corpse to obliterate evidence of their deed was Monday sentenced to serve eight years in jail. Toshiyasu Ouchi was convicted of murder and desecration of a body by the Tokyo District Court.
Ouchi had pleaded innocent, saying that he merely obeyed orders given by AUM guru Shoko Asahara, an accused mass murderer.
Presiding Judge Shozo Kokura, however, dismissed the 48-year-old defendant's protestations of innocence.
"It was a selfish crime that took the life of an ordinary believer for the sake of the cult. The method of killing was cruel and inhumane," Kokura said as he ordered Ouchi serve time.
Kokura later blasted Asahara, who is being tried on multiple counts of murder for a series of crimes he is accused of ordering cult members to commit, the most notorious of which was the 1995 deadly gassing of the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people.
"It is not possible to deny that [Asahara] was the prime conspirator in the crime," Kokura said. "But the crimes were committed purely because [Asahara] had the cooperation, assistance and support of those around him. [Ouchi] also bears great responsibility for what happened."
Kokura also dismissed Ouchi's claims that because he was only obeying orders from Asahara - a figure the cultist revered like a deity - he was either not guilty of the crimes he was tried for, or at worst only guilty of aiding the offense.
"Despite being surprised by Asahara's orders and feeling suspicious and repulsed by the instructions issued, the defendant still acted of his own will when the crime was finally committed," Kokura said.
Ouchi was convicted of conspiring with Asahara and several other AUM cultists to murder Shuji Taguchi, a 21-year-old follower who wanted to leave the doomsday cult. Ouchi stood guard at a cult base in Fujiyoshida, Shizuoka Prefecture, while several cultists strangled Taguchi. The cultists then placed Taguchi's body in a specially created gigantic microwave oven and baked it until barely a trace remained.

"Aum's Ouchi gets 8 years for conspiracy"

("Yomiuri Shimbun," November 6, 2000)

A former senior member of the Aum Supreme Truth cult, Toshiyasu Ouchi, was sentenced by the Tokyo District Court to eight years in prison Monday for conspiring with other cultists to kill fellow member, Shuji Taguchi, 21, in February 1989.
"His act has to be severely condemned because he selfishly sacrificed the life of an ordinary believer for the sake of the cult," presiding Judge Masazo Ogura said.
In the ruling, the judge acknowledged that the cult's founder, Chizuo Matsumoto, 45, also known as Shoko Asahara, had ordered the killing of Taguchi. The court also acknowledged that although Ouchi, 48, the former head of the cult's branch in Russia, was not directly involved in the killing, he conspired with Matsumoto and other cult members to commit murder.
According to the ruling, Taguchi, who wanted to leave the cult, was killed to prevent him telling anyone that the body of another cult member, Naoki Ochi, who died during a training session, had been cremated illegally.
The judge said the cult killed Taguchi to silence him, fearing a revelation of the illegal cremation would bring down public wrath on it and thwart its chances of registration as a religious corporation.
Prosecutors, who had demanded a 10-year prison term for Ouchi, said he had acted as a lookout during the murder, which he denied.
"Ouchi had some doubts and objections about Matsumoto's order to kill Taguchi," the judge said. "However, he participated in the conspiracy of his own free will and acted as a lookout."
Ouchi also had been indicted for illegally cremating the body of Ochi, 25, who died during a training session in June 1993.
The judge said in his ruling: "Ouchi tried to hoodwink other Aum members into believing Ochi had left the cult. He also was actively involved in mutilating the body."
Ouchi was one of the first members of the cult and recruited new members.
"As a senior cult member, Ouchi carries a great responsibility for the mutilation of Ochi's body and the murder of Taguchi, acts that were carried out to ensure the expansion and continuation of the cult," the court said in its ruling.
However, the court acknowledged that Ouchi had left the cult and talked about problems with the cult's doctrine during court sessions. He also wrote letters of apology to the families of the dead cult members, the judge said.

"Aum's Russia chief gets 8-year term"

("Asahi Shimbun," November 6, 2000)

The former head of Aum Shinrikyo's activities in Russia was sentenced today to eight years in prison for his involvement in the slaying of cult follower Shuji Taguchi in 1989 and unlawfully destroying the body of another disciple. Naoki Ochi, 25, died during a cult ``training rite.''
Presiding Judge Shozo Ogura of Tokyo District Court said that in both cases Toshiyasu Ouchi conspired with cult founder Chizuo Matsumoto.
The slaying of Taguchi, 21, marked the first murder by the cult.
Ouchi acted as a watchman in front of a container where Taguchi was killed.
Taguchi was killed for trying to leave the cult.
Ouchi later headed Aum's operations in Russia.
He was detained in Cyprus in 1998.