The Tokyo District Court has ordered Aleph, a spinoff group of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo, to pay over one billion yen in compensation to victims of the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack that killed 13 people and injured thousands, as well as victims of other crimes committed by cult members in the 1980s and 1990s.
Shizue Takahashi, 72, who lost her husband in the March 20, 1995 sarin gas attack, told a press conference Wednesday: “I hope that Aleph adheres to the court’s ruling and begins proceeding with the payments. People are still suffering the effects of their crimes.”
The victims group filed a damages suit after Aleph failed to pay 1.03 billion yen in compensation as ordered by the court in 2009, Fuji TV reported. The court ordered Aleph to pay this amount in full and cease stalling.
Last July, the Justice Ministry ordered the execution of all 13 cult members on death row, including Shoko Asahara, Aum Shinrikyo’s founder and the mastermind behind the sarin attack. The doomsday cult renamed itself to Aleph in February 2010.
© Japan Today
11 Comments
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cla68
The plaintiffs should now be able to seize Aleph assets to pay the judgment.
BertieWooster
They have assets?
Goodlucktoyou
Isn’t a famous Tokyo politician involved with this cult?
Yubaru
Just how long have you lived in Japan? Organizations like this and the Yakuza are not illegal in Japan, their activities are another thing. And for someone who has lived here as long as you have this should be common knowledge. Unless you keep your head in the sand!
obladi
It's a wonder to me that they could keep the group together after all that's happened. I guess once you've convinced yourself that the leaders are enlightened, then it's easier to believe that the whole murderous attack was just a speedbump than accept that you've been brainwashed.
Garthgoyle
Good. But what's gonna make them pay that amount to the victims when they've been refusing to paying the money for the last ten years?
Strangerland
This is the government's way of ending the whole story. They executed all the heads last year, and now they will confiscate everything left, leaving nothing.
Good riddance.
Other than the force of the law, with control of the banking systems and the backing of the police and law enforcement?
Nothing I suppose.
Yubaru
At the beginning they were very vocal about their split from Aum, they changed their name, and continued with the yoga classes and health awareness line, and here in Japan, it gets people to follow!
Garthgoyle
Yeah but that hasn't worked for the past ten years. Will this time someone get arrested and/or assets confiscated, or will it be another toothless law?