Defense attorneys began presenting their case today in the murder trial of the leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, who is accused of having instigated a sarin attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995 that killed 12 (see GSN, Feb. 12).

The trial of Shoko Asahara has restarted five months after the prosecution completed its case, a Tokyo District Court spokesman said.  In addition to the Tokyo attack, Asahara is believed to be responsible for a 1994 chemical weapons attack in the city of Matsumoto that killed seven people, according to AP.  Although there is no evidence that Asahara was directly involved in either attack, members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult carried them out, AP reported.

Asahara’s defense team is expected to take about one year to present its case, and the prosecution is expected to demand that Asahara be sentenced by the end of 2003, according to AP.  Prosecutors have called for 11 Aum Shinrikyo members to be sentenced to death.  Eight have received death sentences (Associated Press/Yahoo.com, May 23).

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