Former doomsday cult guru Shoko Asahara was convicted and sentenced to death yesterday for masterminding the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway and a string of other crimes that killed 27 people, shocked Japan and alerted the world to the danger of high-tech terrorism.
Asahara, founder of the apocalyptic Aum Shinrikyo cult, also was convicted of ordering his followers to produce and stockpile arsenals of conventional and chemical weapons, including the Sarin gas used in the subway attack.
Asahara stood in silence as the verdict -- guilty on all 13 counts against him -- and sentence were read. He is the 12th person sentenced to hang for the attacks, and the decision was widely expected.
The former cult leader's attorneys immediately appealed, arguing that prosecutors had ignored testimony showing Asahara was not behind the crimes, said lead defense lawyer Osamu Watanabe.
The move will set into motion further legal proceedings that some say could last another decade.
The ruling was the climax of a nearly eight-year-long trial. His attorneys had argued that Asahara -- whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto -- had lost control over his flock by the time of the March 20, 1995, subway attack that killed 12 and sickened thousands.
The prosecution, however, depended on testimony from former followers who said that Asahara had planned and ordered their murderous deeds.
Asahara also was convicted of masterminding a Sarin gas attack in June 1994 in the central city of Matsumoto, the murder of anti-Aum lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto and his family, and the killings of wayward followers and people helping mem-bers leave the cult.
At its height, Asahara claimed 10,000 followers in Japan and 30,000 in Russia. The guru used a mixture of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and yoga to entice his devotees, who engaged in bizarre rituals such as drinking his blood and wearing electrical caps that they believed kept their brain waves in tune with their master.
The families of victims welcomed news that Asahara had been sentenced to the gallows.
"It was good to hear the death sentence that I had been hoping for," said Shizue Takahashi, widow of a train worker killed in the subway Sarin attack.
"I visited my husband's grave this morning and I came to hear the ruling with his spirit," she said.
Some said that they were saddened that Asahara never ac-knowledged his responsibility for the crimes or apologized to the victims. He grinned and made comic faces during the proceedings, but barely spoke, only occasionally babbling incoherently in broken English.
"This death sentence is not enough," said Yoko Ito, whose daughter was killed in the Matsumoto gas attack.
"I was hoping that he would say something, but it's very disappointing that the verdict ended in silence," Ito said.
The verdict came after several hours of proceedings in which judge Shoji Ogawa detailed the 13 counts against Asahara and dismissed the former guru's claims of innocence.
"The defendant plotted to spread Sarin nerve gas across Tokyo, destroy the capital and build his own kingdom, and he ordered the construction of a Sarin production plant," Ogawa said.
A four-judge panel led by Ogawa delivered the verdict and sentence.
Security was tight at Tokyo District Court to guard against disruptions by Asahara followers, and media reported that a decoy was used on the way to the court yesterday morning to thwart any attempt to free the ex-guru. Some 4,600 people turned out for a shot at the 38 courtroom seats available to the public; spectators were chosen by lottery.
"I can't think of any other sentence but death for Asahara," said Yasutomo Kusakai, a 22-year-old college student who tried unsuccessfully to get a courtroom seat.
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS