Saturday, November 2

Japan executes man over 2008 stabbing rampage

Aljazeera says Japan has executed a man convicted of killing seven people in a stabbing rampage in Tokyo’s popular Akihabara electronics district in 2008.

Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa said Tomohiro Kato had undertaken “meticulous preparation” for the attack and had shown a “strong intent” to kill.

“The death sentence in this case was finalised through sufficient deliberation in court,” he told reporters.

“Based on this fact, I approved the execution after extremely thorough scrutiny.”

The June 2008 attack, which also injured 10 people, began with Kato driving a truck into a crowd. After stabbing several people, the then 25-year-old was arrested at the scene, telling police: “I came to Akihabara to kill people. It didn’t matter who I’d kill.”