JAPAN. EX-AUM MEMBER APPEALS HIGH COURT'S UPHOLDING OF DEATH SENTENCE

Tomomitsu Niimi, a former senior member of the cult formerly called AUM Shinrikyo, appealed a high court's decision that upheld the death sentence handed down against him for his involvement in a series of crimes including the deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995, his defense lawyers said. The lawyers claimed that capital punishment was too heavy for Niimi, 42, saying he was the most loyal apprentice to AUM founder Shoko Asahara and had no option but to follow his instructions.
The Tokyo High Court on March 15 upheld a district court's death penalty against Niimi, with the presiding judge saying the defendant had not been put in any extreme circumstances. Niimi was the only follower of Asahara to have been charged in all seven murder cases in which the cult was involved.