Japanese Cult Member Appeals Death Sentence

A 43-year-old man convicted of producing the sarin nerve agent used by a Japanese cult in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system yesterday appealed his death sentence, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 21).

Tomomasa Nakagawa, who is charged in connection with the 1995 attack that killed 12 people and a sarin attack in 1994 that killed seven, has sent his appeal to the Tokyo High Court. 

Thirteen members of the Aum Supreme Truth cult have been sentenced to death to date, although none have been executed.

Nakagawa’s lawyers maintain that their client did not know sarin was going to be released on the subway when he produced the gas. They also argue that their client was only providing treatment to injured Aum members in the 1994 attack, in which the cult spread sarin in the city of Matsumoto as a test before the subway attack (Agence France-Presse/Hindustan Times, March 1).

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