Prosecutors Monday demanded that Dr. Ikuo Hayashi, one of five Aum Shinrikyo figures accused of releasing nerve gas on the Tokyo subway system in March 1995, be sentenced to life in prison.
The March 20 attack killed 12 and injured some 3,800. The recommended punishment for Hayashi -- the first defendant facing sentencing for directly carrying out the sarin attack -- is expected to affect the fate of other 13 cultists accused of taking part in gas attacks allegedly ordered by Aum founder Shoko Asahara, who is still on trial.
Prosecutors judged that Hayashi does not deserve the death penalty because he readily confessed to the attack and has been repentant since his April 1995 arrest. At the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors castigated Hayashi for his liability in the "indiscriminate mass killing."