Staff writer
Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's trial has taken several twists in the past seven months, with the man at the center of the matter speaking out in sometimes incomprehensible English while his lawyers criticize the frequency of the hearings, leading to their boycott of one session.
Since the trial opened in April last year, 42-year-old Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, has not entered a plea over his alleged involvement in 17 criminal cases. The counts he is facing include charges that he masterminded the March 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that left 12 people dead and 3,795 injured, and the deadly sarin attack the previous June in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.