TOKYO: Japan Government on Tuesday, July 26, executed a man who killed seven people in Tokyo's Akihabara district in 2008 during a stabbing rampage, Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa announced. On June 8, 2008, Tomohiro Kato, 39, drove a truck into pedestrians in a no-vehicle zone in the renowned retail and tourism centre, killing three people on the scene, as per media reports.
After halting the truck, he exited and proceeded to stab four other individuals and hurt eight others with a long-bladed dagger, according to the 2015 court verdict.
"The tragedy had a huge impact on society because it took seven people's precious lives," Furukawa said at a press conference here. Furukawa said on July 22 that he signed the execution order for Kato "after careful and then even more rigorous thought."
He was executed by hanging in the Tokyo Detention Centre. Kato had lost his appeal to commute his sentence in Japan's highest court in 2015.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration has carried out two executions, with three death-row prisoners engaged in multiple crimes being hanged in December 2021.
According to official estimates, there are now 106 people on execution row in Japan.
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