The Tokyo District Court on Monday rejected a 10 million yen damages suit filed by the Aum Shinrikyo cult against the Mainichi Shimbun over a report on the cult's alleged ongoing research on the nerve gas sarin.
Presiding Judge Takahisa Fukuda said in the ruling that the report in the Mainichi's May 26 morning editions did not say Aum, which now calls itself Aleph, is researching the deadly gas as an organization.
"There are deep-rooted anxieties among the general public about the cult," the judge said, concluding that the report could not have further damaged Aum's reputation in the public eye.
The Mainichi report, "Continuation of sarin research," said a female Aum member's notebook, seized by police, mentioned sarin's chemical formula.