Supreme Court rejects plea for retrial of Aum founder Asahara

The Japan Times/May 12, 2015

The Supreme Court has finalized its decision not to grant a retrial for Aum Shinrikyo cult founder Shoko Asahara, who is on death row for masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system among other charges, sources said Tuesday.

The top court on Monday rejected a third plea for the retrial of the 60-year-old Asahara, according to the sources. It turned down the first and second pleas in 2010 and 2013.

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, to death in 2004 over the deadly gas attack and other crimes.

A former Aum member later withdrew his testimony that Asahara had ordered the production of sarin gas, which led the cult leader’s relatives to file the pleas for a retrial to examine what they claimed was new evidence.

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