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https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3045130/satoshi-uematsu-wanted-kill-all-disabled-people-his-trial-19
Asia/ East Asia

Mass stabbing accused Satoshi Uematsu wanted to kill all disabled people. His trial for 19 murders begins

  • Uematsu is accused of breaking into care facility and murdering his victims. He turned himself into police and admitted his guilt
  • He had left his job at the home just months before the attack and had told colleagues he planned to killed patients
Satoshi Uematsu after his arrest in 2016. Photo: AFP

The trial of a man accused of stabbing to death 19 disabled people at a care home in 2016 was interrupted on Wednesday after the man seemed to put something in his mouth, started struggling with court officials and lay on the floor writhing.

Once proceedings resumed, Satoshi Uematsu, 29, pleaded not guilty on the grounds of diminished capacity. His lawyer said Uematsu had a psychiatric disorder that made him mentally incompetent. A former employee of the care centre outside Tokyo, Uematsu has admitted carrying out the stabbing rampage, which was one of Japan’s worst mass killings.

Uematsu reportedly said he wanted to eradicate all disabled people in the horrifying attack at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en centre in the town of Sagamihara outside Tokyo.

He is accused of breaking into the facility and moving room to room, searching for victims. Nineteen people were killed and 26 injured – half of them seriously. He turned himself in at a police station, carrying bloodied knives and admitting the attack to officers.

It emerged later that Uematsu had left his job at the home just months before the attack, and had been forcibly hospitalised after telling colleagues he intended to kill disabled people at the centre. But he was discharged after 12 days when a doctor deemed him not a threat. He faces six charges, including murder, and faces the death penalty if convicted on some of the counts.

Interest in the trial was intense, with nearly 2,000 people lining up in cold rain for 26 viewing seats, and broadcast trucks lined the streets in front of the courthouse.

People stand in the rain outside a court in Yokohama to attend the trial of Satoshi Uematsu. Photo: AFP
People stand in the rain outside a court in Yokohama to attend the trial of Satoshi Uematsu. Photo: AFP

“I want to know why he came to have such ideas about disabled people,” said Yuki Kuriyama, 41, who uses a wheelchair. “I am worried not only about a man who thinks that way but also about this entire society where there are some people who apparently agree with his ideas.”

Since his arrest, Uematsu has shown no remorse and continued to espouse the views that apparently motivated the attack.

In interviews with Japan’s Mainichi daily he said those with mental disabilities “have no heart”, claiming “there’s no point in living” for them.

Her name was Miho. I want that public as proof that she existed. I want people to know who she was Bereaved mother

“I had to do it for the sake of society,” he said of the attack. “I don’t think I’m innocent but it wasn’t something punishable by death.”

Despite his statements, his lawyers reportedly plan to enter a plea of not guilty on Uematsu’s behalf, arguing he was unable to tell right from wrong at the time of the attack because he was on drugs.

A test following his arrest reportedly showed traces of marijuana in his system.

In a recent interview with the Jiji Press agency, Uematsu said he would not deny in court having carried out the attack.

“It’s depressing,” he said. “It’s like going there to get insulted.”

And he appeared to take pride in the devastating rampage. “I did my best,” he told Jiji.

Uematsu’s self-styled mission to rid the country of people with disabilities shocked Japan, with experts and activists raising questions about whether others in the country might hold similar views.

Japan has been making efforts to increase accessibility – particularly in Tokyo ahead of this year’s Paralympic Games – and activists hailed last year’s election of two disabled lawmakers.

Journalists gather in front of Tsukui Yamayuri-en after the murders in 2016. Photo: AP
Journalists gather in front of Tsukui Yamayuri-en after the murders in 2016. Photo: AP

But some critics feel the country still falls short at fully integrating people with disabilities, and the government last year was forced to admit data on hiring people with disabilities had been padded to meet quotas.

Uematsu appeared to have been open about his prejudices well before the attack, even delivering a letter to the speaker of the lower house of parliament in which he threatened to kill hundreds of disabled people.

The letter reportedly clearly outlined a plan for night-time attacks against Tsukui Yamayuri-en and another facility.

I had to do it for the sake of society Satoshi Uematsu

In the rambling letter, he presented a vision of a society in which those with serious disabilities could be euthanised with the approval of family members since “handicapped people only create unhappiness”.

Japan has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the developed world, and the attack ranks among the worst ever in the country. At the time it was the deadliest since 1938, when a man armed with an axe, sword and rifle went on a rampage that left 30 people dead.

The murders also sparked debate about the need for change in a society where people with disabilities can still suffer stigma and shame, a situation highlighted by the fact that the families of most of those killed have not revealed their names.

One woman on Wednesday bucked the trend, telling NHK national broadcaster that Uematsu’s trial prompted her to change her mind about concealing the name of her daughter, 19 when she was killed.

Photos showed the young woman, who was autistic and unable to speak, smiling shyly as she entered junior high and with short hair in a photo taken by her mother soon after she entered the care home, just months before she was killed.

“She loved music, she lived as energetically as she could,” her mother wrote in the statement carried by NHK, saying she last saw her daughter two days before her death. “Her name was Miho. I want that public as proof that she existed. I want people to know who she was.”

Additional reporting by Reuters