The Tokyo High Court sentenced a former doomsday cult member to death yesterday for a 1995 nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways, overturning a lower court ruling condemning him to life in prison.
Yoshihiro Inoue, 34, was one of several Aum Shinri Kyo agents accused of being directly involved in the attack, in which cult members riding five subway trains converging on the capital's government district punctured plastic bags filled with sarin nerve gas. Twelve people died and thousands were injured, some of whom continue to suffer after-effects.
Tokyo High Court spokesman Koji Suwabe confirmed that Judge Toshio Yamada had sentenced Inoue to death, but could not provide further details.
Inoue's lawyers immediately appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Though Inoue did not spread sarin on the train, the court found that he bears as much responsibility for the gassing as any of the attackers because as a supervisor he made sure the crimes were carried out, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The earlier lower court ruling said Inoue only served as a backup in the attack.
Inoue, a close aid to former cult guru Shoko Asahara, is the 13th member of the cult to receive a death sentence. Asahara, 49, was sentenced in February to hang for masterminding the attack and other crimes.
Asahara allegedly ordered the gas attack to start an Armageddon he preached only his followers would survive.
The judge said Inoue proposed the March 21, 1995, nerve gas attack at a meeting with Asahara and several of his top lieutenants.
Aum claimed 10,000 followers in Japan and 30,000 in Russia at its height. Police have cracked down on the cult, putting it under close surveillance. It has since changed its name to Aleph and currently has an estimated 6,500 members.
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