Nov. 22
JAPAN:
Aum Shinrikyo members face death penalty
ELEANOR HALL: Japan's government must now decide whether to execute the Aum
Shinrikyo cult members convicted of the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo
subway, which killed 13 people.
Overnight, the Supreme Court rejected the final appeal against the death
penalty by one of the cult members who helped orchestrate the terrorist attack.
But the justice minister will make the final decision on whether to carry out
the sentence.
Our correspondent Mark Willacy is in Tokyo.
ELEANOR HALL: Mark, how difficult a decision is this for the government?
MARK WILLACY: It is quite a difficult position for the government to be put in
because this is a government that has in the past said that it's not
comfortable with the death penalty, Japan being one of only a couple of major
industrialised nations along with the United States to still carry out the
death penalty.
In fact Japan doesn't carry it out quite as liberally as the Americans, they
generally only use it in cases of multiple murder and this is certainly one of
them because the Aum Shinrikyo cult was responsible for killing 27 people in a
number of different cases, not just the main sarin gas attack 1995.
ELEANOR HALL: So how many prisoners now face execution?
MARK WILLACY: Well in terms of the cult itself, there are now 13 members of the
cult, including the founder of the cult and its leader, Shoko Asahara, who are
facing the death penalty. But in terms of those people on death row, it's
dozens and dozens across the board so we've only seen a couple of executions in
the last year or so which shows the government's reticence to use the death
penalty to hang these prisoners.
But you'd have to say in this case with the Aum Shinrikyo cult, there is
certainly probably a fair bit of public support for their execution given the
devastation they caused to the Tokyo subway and to the people travelling on it
back then in '95.
ELEANOR HALL: It is now more than two decades since that Tokyo attack. Is the
cult still well known, indeed does it have any power still inside Japan?
MARK WILLACY: Well technically the cult is dissolved but it has actually in
reality reformed under the name of Aleph and I can tell you it's very heavily
monitored. It only has between 1,000 or 2,000 members, active members, but they
are spread across Japan, we believe in about 16 out of Japan's 47 prefectures.
And as you can imagine the police are keeping a very, very close eye on this
cult. They do believe that it still practises and believes the sort of ideology
that the original Aum cult practised. So there is a fear that you know if they
don't watch it, they don't monitor it, there could be some sort of attack like
the sarin attacks that we saw 16 years ago.
ELEANOR HALL: So what sort of a public reaction is the government likely to
face if it doesn't carry out the death penalty against these cult members?
MARK WILLACY: Well certainly right wing elements, the nationalists as they are
called over here are calling for these cult members to be executed. They
believe that they are a shame on Japan. Average people on the street, yes.
There was a lot of media coverage yesterday about these attacks and the fact
that these trials have been finally put to rest.
And a lot of people are saying look these things cause great damage to Tokyo,
it killed 13 people, thousands were injured. It damaged the reputation of this
city as one of the world's safest capitals and these people are a menace to
society and really I think there is a bit of public support if not overwhelming
public support for these men and women to be hanged.
ELEANOR HALL: Has the cult ever given a reason for its series of attacks?
MARK WILLACY: No that has been one of the big questions if not the biggest
question to arise out of these trials. Now that the trials have pretty much
been put to bed, everyone is saying well we never got that question answered -
why did they do it, what was behind it? Why did they want to release sarin gas
on the Tokyo subway, that has never, ever been answered and for many of the
victims and the relatives of the victims that's been something that's haunted
them ever since.
And it looks like it's not going to be solved either because the leader of the
cult, Shoko Asahara, has basically lapsed into silence for the last few years.
He hasn't uttered a word in his cell, he's not saying anything to anyone, not
even his lawyers so it could go with him to the gallows.
ELEANOR HALL: Mark Willacy in Tokyo, thank you.
MARK WILLACY: Thank you.
ELEANOR HALL: And Mark Willacy is the ABC's correspondent in Tokyo.
(source: ABC News)
INDONESIA:
Vietnamese Woman Overcome by Death Sentence for Drug Smuggling
A Vietnamese woman broke down in tears when an Indonesian court sentenced her
to death on Tuesday for attempting to smuggle more than a kilogram of crystal
methamphetamine into the country.
Prosecutors had previously urged the Boyolali District Court to sentence
Vietnam national Tran Thibich Hanh to life in prison and a fine of Rp 8 billion
($880,000).
Tran was arrested after she was caught attempting to import the drugs into
Indonesia from Malaysia on June 19.
Presiding Judge Bambang Eka Putra said he imposed the death penalty because
narcotics threatened the safety of Indonesia’s younger generations.
Hanh’s lawyer Joko Purwanto, said his client would appeal the verdict.
(source: Jakarta Globe)
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