Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara's lawyers continue to protest the Tokyo High Court's dismissal Monday of their appeal of the cult guru's death sentence.
The court decision comes more than two years after Asahara was sentenced to death in February 2004 for ordering followers launch the March 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack and other murders.
Here is a rundown on some of the reasons the legal proceedings have apparently been stalled for so long and what may come next: