Related
Translate
Get RNB via RSS
 |
RNB's RSS feed What is this? |
Get RNB via Email
 |
 Subscribe by Email What is this? |
Follow: Twitter
Most Popular
This Week:
- Polygamist Sect Leader Convicted of Sexual Assault
- Jury takes 14 minutes to convict self-proclaimed pot pastor
- Supreme Court upholds cult AUM Shinrikyo members’ death sentences
- Newspaper continues series of exposés of Scientology cult
- Epic Mohammad movie in pipeline
- Coptic Christian Blogger in Egypt Pressured to Convert to Islam in Prison
- Italian judge convicts 23 in CIA kidnapping of Muslim cleric
- Cult leader Warren Jeffs’ attorneys argue sect leader faced wrong charge
- Texas judge limits some records in FLDS trial over polygamy references
- Photos show birthing center at sect’s Texas ranch
Japanese cult ordered to pay victim’s kin
Sep. 3, 1996
Erik Talmadge, Associated Press
www.boston.com
More articles on this topic: Aum ShinrikyoAward stems from 1994 attack
TOKYO — A Tokyo court yesterday ordered apocalyptic cult guru Shoko Asahara and two of his top followers to pay nearly $7.5 million in damages to victims of last year’s nerve gas attack on the city’s subways.
It is unlikely the money will ever be paid because the Aum Shinri Kyo cult already has been declared bankrupt and ordered to disband. Regardless, survivors of the attack consider the ruling a legal victory that could set a precedent for other civil suits against the cult.
“I have waited for this day, though it won’t bring my daughter back,” said Bunjiro Iwata, father of one of the victims.
The morning rush-hour attack March 20 on Tokyo’s showcase subway system killed 12 people, sickened thousands of others and shocked a nation accustomed to taking public safety for granted.
Criminal charges are still pending against Asahara and many other top cult members, but final verdicts could take years. If convicted of murder, they could be hanged.
Two of Asahara’s top disciples, Masami Tsuchiya and Ikuo Hayashi, were also named in the ruling.
The three accused men did not offer a defense nor did they appear at any of the court sessions over the past several months. The court thus awarded the full amount sought by the 38 victims — $7.45 million, an unusually high amount by Japanese standards.
Lawyers for the victims stressed that although Asahara lived a flamboyant, luxurious life as head of the Aum Shinri Kyo cult, it is unlikely he will be able to pay the compensation.
“Realistically, these men have virtually no assets,” said chief lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya. Many of Aum’s former assets have been sold or transferred to individual ownership.
“This is only a victory on paper,” said Shizue Takahashi, whose husband was killed in the attack. “We have yet to receive an apology. It is unforgivable that the defendants didn’t even come to this court.”
The chief prosecutor said the court has yet to rule on damage suits filed against 12 other cult leaders — three of whom vanished after the attack — and the cult itself.
The subway attack was the climax in a series of increasingly violent crimes blamed on Asahara and his neo-Buddhist cult, which at its peak said it had 40,000 followers in Japan, Russia and several other countries.
The bearded, partially blind guru has refused to offer a plea in his criminal trial, where he is accused of a dozen other murders. They include the killings of an anti-Aum lawyer, his family and a cult member at Aum’s main commune on the base of Mount Fuji.
What You Can Do From Here
|
Read More Articles On These Topics
 Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article
Subscribe
Read Another Article
 Previous entry: Japan ex-cultist gets 8-year term Next entry: Bless You, Sir, May I Jog Another?
RNB Homepage with latest headlinesFind Related Information
Find Related Books
|
Share This Article
To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:
