Japan cult leader hears tales of terror

Witnesses testify about Tokyo gas attack

September 5, 1996
Web posted at: 11:45 a.m. EDT (1545 GMT)

TOKYO (CNN) -- Japanese cult leader Shoko Asahara heard Thursday for the first time from witnesses to the 1995 Tokyo gas attack he is accused of masterminding. He sat silently through the testimony, showing no emotion. It was his first court appearance after a two-month summer recess.

The witnesses told their stories from March 20, 1995, the day the deadly nerve gas sarin seeped through the city's subway system, killing 12 people and injuring 5,500 others. Chaos shattered the city's usual calm.
(11 sec/512K QuickTime movie)

Subway station worker Toshiaki Toyoda recounted how he and two colleagues tried to clean up the chemical, which smelled "ominous and evil." Their efforts proved fatal for Toyoda's colleagues.

For the widow (12 sec/256K AIFF or WAV sound) of one of the subway workers, Thursday's testimony was heartbreaking. Shizue Takahashi said it was the first time she heard how her husband had collapsed on the platform, unconscious, but with his eyes still open. "I just started crying when I heard that, " she said.

Asahara, 41, faces 17 charges ranging from murder to illegal drug production. He has refused to enter a plea in response. If convicted, he could be hanged.

Earlier this week, a civil case against the cult leader ended with an anti-climactic bang. A Tokyo court ordered Asahara and two other cult members to pay $7.5 million to 38 victims of the gas attack. But since Asahara is virtually penniless and his cult, Aum Shinrikyo, is bankrupt, the likelihood of actual payment is next to none.

Correspondent May Lee, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Japan's 'trial of the century' begins - April 24, 1996
• Japan's year of crises comes to a welcome end - December 30, 1995

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