The Tokyo High Court upheld the death penalty Wednesday for Tomomitsu Niimi, Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's right-hand man.

Niimi, 42, was convicted of participating in the murders of 26 people, including the seven victims of the sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, on June 27, 1994, and the 12 people killed in the Tokyo subway gassing on March 20, 1995.

"Although Niimi may have committed his crimes to put his religious beliefs into practice, they were still crimes there is nothing to mitigate his responsibility," presiding Judge Kunio Harada said in refusing leniency.