JAPAN. SUPREME COURT SEALS 5TH DEATH PENALTY FOR AUM MEMBER

February 15, 2008: the Japanese Supreme Court rejected an appeal against the death sentence filed by former AUM Shinrikyo member Yasuo Hayashi, who took part in the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack in 1995.
Hayashi, the fifth one to be finalized death penalty among a total of 13 indicted Aum major members, was convicted of releasing sarin gas in a crowded subway car in which eight people died. The 50 year old criminal was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court in June 2000. The ruling was maintained by the Tokyo High Court in December 2003. Death sentences for all the 13 convicted AUM members were upheld by high courts. (Sources: chinaview.cn, 15/02/2008)