Former Aum Cultist Sentenced

T O K Y O, Nov. 6 -- A former member of a Japanesedoomsday cult was jailed for eight years today for his rolein a murder committed before the group’s deadly gas attack on theTokyo subway some six years later.

Toshiyasu Ouchi, 48, the former head of Aum Shinrikyo’s(Supreme Truth sect) Russian branch, was convicted of throttlingto death 21-year-old fellow member Shuji Taguchi with a rope, in1989, Kyodo news agency said.

According to the ruling handed down by the Tokyo DistrictCourt, Ouchi had conspired with several other cult members tokill Taguchi after leaders learned he wanted to leave the group.

Direct Role, or Subordinate?

Prosecutors had sought a 10-year term, but Ouchi’s lawyersargued he did not participate directly in the murder and did notconspire with leaders, whose directives had to be taken asorders.

They added that Taguchi played, at most, only a subordinaterole in the killing.

In 1998, Taguchi was the target of an international manhuntafter he fled Russia when authorities there, suspecting he wastrying to revive the cult in that country, began looking into hisactivities.

He fled through three countries before being apprehended inCyprus several weeks later.

Doomsday Cult

Aum, which preached that the world was coming to an end andthat the cult must arm itself to prepare for various calamities,unleashed lethal sarin gas on the Tokyo subway in 1995, killing12 people and injuring thousands.

The cult earlier this year changed its name to Aleph — thefirst letter of the Hebrew alphabet — and insists it is now abenign religious group.