A JAPANESE court has sentenced a former care home employee to hang for stabbing to death 19 disabled people and injuring two dozen others in the deadliest mass attack in post-Second World War Japan.
The Yokohama District Court convicted Satoshi Uematsu of the killings and of injuring 24 other residents and two care-givers at the Yamayuri En residential centre in July 2016.
During the investigation and trial, Uematsu repeatedly said he had no regrets and was trying to help the world by killing people he thought were burdens. Advocacy groups said the suspect’s views reflected a persistent prejudice in Japan against people with disabilities.
Chief Judge Kiyoshi Aonuma dismissed defence requests to acquit him because he was mentally incompetent due to a marijuana overdose.
“The attacks were premeditated, and the defendant was acting consistently to achieve his goal,” Judge Aonuma said. “The crime, which took the lives of 19 people, was extremely heinous and caused damage that is incomparable to any other case.”
Uematsu listened as the judge delivered the ruling. After the judge declared an end to the session, Uematsu raised his hand seeking permission to speak, but was not allowed to do so.
Prosecutors said Uematsu’s motive came from his biases and work experience at the home and not from the use of marijuana. They said Uematsu was mentally competent and should take responsibility for his actions.
Uematsu told medical staff and officials that he was influenced by the ideas of Adolf Hitler, whose killings of disabled people were seen as intended to improve the perceived master race.
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