Fifteen years have passed since the March 30, 1995, shooting attack on Mr. Takaji Kunimatsu, then head of the National Police Agency, outside his Tokyo home. As the statute of limitations on the case has expired without any indictment, the Metropolitan Police Department's action on the day that the case ended was illogical.
On March 30, Mr. Goro Aoki, head of the MPD's public security division, announced that it was an organized and premeditated terrorist attack and that it was carried out by the Aum Shinrikyo cult "under the will" of the cult's leader, Shoko Asahara, now on death row for ordering the March 20, 1995, sarin attack on Tokyo's subway system, which killed 13 people and injured more than 6,000.
One wonders whether the MPD's announcement is legal or appropriate since its investigation failed to lead to the indictment of anyone in the shooting attack. Instead of making such an announcement, the MPD should have fully explained what went wrong with the investigation.