Japanese Court Sentences Cult Member to Death

A Japanese appeals court today increased the sentence handed down to the convicted former intelligence chief of the Aum Shinrikyo cult from life in prison to death, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, Feb. 27).

In 2000, Yoshihiro Inoue received a life sentence for aiding Aum Shinrikyo’s 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 12 people and injured thousands. While acknowledging his involvement in the attack, Inoue claimed that he had not actually released the nerve agent, AFP said.

Japanese prosecutors appealed and the Tokyo High Court today sentenced Inoue to death, overturning the lesser sentence. Inoue’s lawyers filed an appeal of the High Court’s decision to the Japanese Supreme Court (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 28).

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