The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Aum Shinrikyo member Akemi Saito to 14 months in prison Tuesday for harboring fugitive cultist Makoto Hirata for more than 14 years.
then_now.jpg "Makoto Hirata")
A woman who harbored Aum Shinrikyo cult member Makoto Hirata for 17 years faces a two-year prison term.
Akemi Saito, herself a former member of the cult, pled guilty in court Tuesday to sheltering the former fugitive.
Former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Makoto Hirata, 46, arrested for kidnapping, will be served a fresh arrest warrant as early as Jan. 31 for alleged involvement in a 1995 bombing in Tokyo.
Meanwhile another former Aum Shinikyo cult member was charged with harboring Hirata while knowing he was a fugitive.
A former AUM Shinrikyo follower who turned herself in to Tokyo police early Tuesday was arrested later in the day on suspicion of harboring Makoto Hirata — a former senior member of the cult, who was apprehended on New Year’s Day after surrendering to the police.