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Lawyer meets ex-AUM cult member Hirata

TOKYO, Japan - Lawyer Taro Takimoto speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Jan. 2, 2012, after meeting with Makoto Hirata, a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult who turned himself in to police on Dec. 31. Takimoto said Hirata, 46, who had been on the wanted list since May 1995, thinks that AUM founder Shoko Asahara ''deserves the death penalty'' and that he does not believe in the cult anymore.

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Ex-AUM cult member Hirata taken to public prosecutors

TOKYO, Japan - A vehicle carrying Makoto Hirata, a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, leaves Osaki Police Station in Tokyo on Jan. 2, 2012, as police officers take him for further questioning by public prosecutors. Hirata turned himself in to police on Dec. 31 after being on the run for more than 16 years. He was immediately arrested for suspected involvement in a conspiracy with AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other followers to abduct Kiyoshi Kariya, chief clerk at a notary office in Tokyo, in February 1995.

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Last ex-AUM fugitive

NARITA, Japan - A police officer (C) hands out flyers while standing next to a full-scale effigy of former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Katsuya Takahashi, the last remaining fugitive from the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, at Narita airport, near Tokyo, on June 14, 2012.

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Ex-AUM member Kikuchi's hideout in Sagamihara

TOKYO, Japan - Journalists and onlookers on June 4, 2012 crowd the area surrounding a house (C) in which former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Naoko Kikuchi had been hiding in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture. Kikuchi, who had been wanted for years for alleged involvement in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, was captured the day before in Sagamihara, southwest of Tokyo.

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Ex-AUM cult member Kikuchi arrested

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Police officers walk around a house in which former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Naoko Kikuchi had been hiding, in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on June 4, 2012. Kikuchi, who had been wanted for years for alleged involvement in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, was arrested the previous day in Tokyo after being captured in Sagamihara, southwest of Tokyo.

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Ex-AUM cult member given prison term

TOKYO, Japan - Lawyer Taro Takimoto (R) holds a press conference in Tokyo on March 27, 2012, after the Tokyo District Court earlier in the day sentenced former AUM Shinrikyo cult follower Akemi Saito to 14 months in prison for harboring former senior AUM member Makoto Hirata, who had been on the run for nearly 17 years. Takimoto, who defended Saito in the trial, said the ruling was ''unjust.''

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Ex-AUM member Hayashi loses appeal against death sentence

TOKYO, Japan - The Supreme Court on Feb. 15 rejects an appeal against the death sentence for former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Yasuo Hayashi (file photo), who was convicted of murder for releasing deadly sarin gas in a Tokyo subway car in 1995 and involvement in another sarin attack in Nagano Prefecture.

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Prosecutors to appeal against acquittal of ex-AUM cult member

Undated photo shows former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Naoko Kikuchi. The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office is preparing to appeal a high court ruling that found her not guilty of a 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo metropolitan government building, sources close to the matter said on Dec. 8, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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High court acquits ex-AUM cult member in parcel bombing case

A lawyer for former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Naoko Kikuchi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Nov. 27, 2015, after the Tokyo High Court ruled that Kikuchi was not guilty of a 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo metropolitan government building. The lawyer, whose name has been withheld, said the ruling was "very sensible" and urged prosecutors not to appeal it. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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High court acquits ex-AUM cult member in parcel bombing case

Camera crew gather in front of the Tokyo High Court on Nov. 27, 2015. The court ruled the same day that former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Naoko Kikuchi was not guilty of a 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo metropolitan government building. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Ex-AUM cult member Kikuchi acquitted

Photo shows former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Naoko Kikuchi. Kikuchi had been sentenced to five years in prison for taking part in a 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo metropolitan government building, but the Tokyo High Court acquitted her in an appeal trial on Nov. 27, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Death sentence for ex-AUM member Niimi upheld

TOKYO, Japan - The Tokyo High Court on March 15 upholds the death sentence given to Tomomitsu Niimi (file photo), a former senior member of the cult formerly known as AUM Shinrikyo, by a lower court for a series of crimes including the deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM member Hayashi loses appeal against death sentence

TOKYO, Japan - The Supreme Court on Feb. 15 rejects an appeal against the death sentence for former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Yasuo Hayashi (file photo), who was convicted of murder for releasing deadly sarin gas in a Tokyo subway car in 1995 and involvement in another sarin attack in Nagano Prefecture. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member given prison term

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows former AUM Shinrikyo cult follower Akemi Saito. Saito was sentenced to 14 months in prison on March 27, 2012, for harboring former senior AUM member Makoto Hirata, who had been on the run for nearly 17 years. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member given prison term

TOKYO, Japan - Lawyer Taro Takimoto (R) holds a press conference in Tokyo on March 27, 2012, after the Tokyo District Court earlier in the day sentenced former AUM Shinrikyo cult follower Akemi Saito to 14 months in prison for harboring former senior AUM member Makoto Hirata, who had been on the run for nearly 17 years. Takimoto, who defended Saito in the trial, said the ruling was ''unjust.'' (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member Inoue questioned

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in Tokyo on Aug. 15, 1995, shows former senior AUM Shinrikyo cult member Yoshihiro Inoue. Police have questioned Inoue, who is on death row, as part of their investigation into a case involving another former leading member, Makoto Hirata, who recently turned himself in to police after almost 17 years on the run, investigative sources said Jan. 5, 2012. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member Hirata

TOKYO, Japan - Makoto Hirata, a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, is escorted by a police officer to the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo on Jan. 3, 2012. Hirata turned himself in to police late on Dec. 31, 2011, after being on the run for more than 16 years. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member held after 16 years on run

TOKYO, Japan - Makoto Hirata (L), a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult who has been on the run for more than 16 years, is escorted by police officers from Marunouchi Police Station to Osaki Police Station, both in Tokyo, on Jan. 1, 2012. Hirata, 46, turned himself in to police the previous night and was arrested for suspected involvement in a conspiracy with AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other followers to abduct Kiyoshi Kariya, chief clerk at a notary office in Tokyo, in February 1995. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member Hirata arrested

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken on Jan. 2, 2012, shows a poster with pictures of three ex-AUM Shinrikyo cult members wanted by police. The photo of Makoto Hirata (C), who turned himself in to police on Dec. 31 after being on the run for more than 16 years, is obscured by a sticker saying he has been arrested. The other two are Katsuya Takahashi (L) and Naoko Kikuchi, who are still wanted in connection with a string of heinous crimes committed by the cult in the 1990s. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member Hirata arrested

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows Makoto Hirata, a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult. Hirata turned himself in to police in Tokyo on Dec. 31, 2011, after being on the run for more than 16 years and was immediately arrested for suspected involvement in a conspiracy with AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other followers to abduct Kiyoshi Kariya, chief clerk at a notary office in Tokyo, in February 1995. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member Hirata taken to public prosecutors

TOKYO, Japan - A vehicle carrying Makoto Hirata, a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, leaves Osaki Police Station in Tokyo on Jan. 2, 2012, as police officers take him for further questioning by public prosecutors. Hirata turned himself in to police on Dec. 31 after being on the run for more than 16 years. He was immediately arrested for suspected involvement in a conspiracy with AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other followers to abduct Kiyoshi Kariya, chief clerk at a notary office in Tokyo, in February 1995. (Kyodo)

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Lawyer meets ex-AUM cult member Hirata

TOKYO, Japan - Lawyer Taro Takimoto speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Jan. 2, 2012, after meeting with Makoto Hirata, a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult who turned himself in to police on Dec. 31. Takimoto said Hirata, 46, who had been on the wanted list since May 1995, thinks that AUM founder Shoko Asahara ''deserves the death penalty'' and that he does not believe in the cult anymore. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member Hirata taken to public prosecutors

TOKYO, Japan - A vehicle carrying Makoto Hirata, a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult, leaves Osaki Police Station in Tokyo on Jan. 2, 2012, as police officers take him for further questioning by public prosecutors. Hirata turned himself in to police on Dec. 31 after being on the run for more than 16 years. He was immediately arrested for suspected involvement in a conspiracy with AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other followers to abduct Kiyoshi Kariya, chief clerk at a notary office in Tokyo, in February 1995. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member held after 16 years on run

TOKYO, Japan - Makoto Hirata (back C), a former leading member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult who has been on the run for more than 16 years, is escorted by police officers from Marunouchi Police Station to Osaki Police Station, both in Tokyo, on Jan. 1, 2012. Hirata, 46, turned himself in to police the previous night and was arrested for suspected involvement in a conspiracy with AUM founder Shoko Asahara and other followers to abduct Kiyoshi Kariya, chief clerk at a notary office in Tokyo, in February 1995. (Kyodo)

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Ex-AUM cult member Saito

TOKYO, Japan - Undated file photo shows former AUM Shinrikyo follower Akemi Saito, who turned herself in to Tokyo police in the early hours of Jan. 10, 2012. Saito was arrested on suspicion of harboring former senior AUM member Makoto Hirata, who was arrested days earlier. (Kyodo)

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Executed ex-AUM senior member

Undated file photo shows Yoshihiro Inoue, a former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo doomsday cult involved in the 1995 deadly Tokyo subway sarin gas attack. Inoue was hanged on July 6, 2018, along with the cult's founder Shoko Asahara and five other senior members. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Ex-AUM cult member not guilty of parcel bombing

Undated photo shows former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Naoko Kikuchi. The Supreme Court on Dec. 25, 2017 decided to uphold a high court decision in Tokyo that Kikuchi was not guilty of a 1995 parcel bombing at the Tokyo metropolitan government building. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Court voids surveillance measures against group led by ex-AUM member

Photo taken Sept. 25, 2017, shows a condominium building that houses a group led by a former key member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult in Tokyo. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the group called Hikarinowa, or the Circle of Rainbow Light, does not require state surveillance, finding that it has separated from the founder of AUM, who is on death row for masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo and other crimes. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Court voids surveillance measures against group led by ex-AUM member

Former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Fumihiro Joyu speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Sept. 25, 2017, after the Tokyo District Court ruled that a group established by Joyu does not require state surveillance, finding that it has separated from the founder of AUM who is on death row for masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack in Tokyo and other crimes. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Ex-AUM cult member on death row calls founder "criminal" in memoir

Undated photo shows former senior member of the AUM Shinrikyo cult Tomomasa Nakagawa. Nakagawa, who is on death row, has described the founder and guru he once revered, Shoko Asahara, a "criminal" in a recently published memoir. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE AFTER MARCH 16, 2017)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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High court to hand down sentence on ex-AUM cult member

Photo shows former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Katsuya Takahashi. The Tokyo High Court will hand down a sentence on Sept. 7, 2016, in an appeal trial, after the Tokyo District Court sentenced Takahashi to life imprisonment for his role in the cult's 1995 sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway system. (NOT FOR SALE AFTER DEC. 7, 2016)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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High court upholds death sentence for ex-AUM cultist

TOKYO, Japan - The Tokyo High Court upheld the death sentence on Satoru Hashimoto (file photo), former senior AUM Shinrikyo cultist, on Sept. 18 for his involvement in two separate murder cases and in building a plant to mass-produce nerve gas. (Kyodo)

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Hayashi sentenced to death for nerve-gas attacks

TOKYO, Japan - File photo taken in December 1996 shows ex-AUM Shinrikyo member Yasuo Hayashi (C), who was sentenced to death by the Tokyo District Court on June 29 for carrying out a 1994 nerve-gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, and another on the Tokyo subway system the following year. The sarin gas attacks, allegedly committed by a number of AUM followers, claimed a total of 19 lives.

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Ex-AUM member Inoue given life term for murder

TOKYO, Japan - File photo chows Yoshihiro Inoue (C), 30, one of AUM founder Shoko Asahara's closest aides, who was sentenced June 6 to life in prison for murder and other crimes related to 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people and injured thousands.