Lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo figure Kiyohide Hayakawa sought to emphasize his human side Sept. 25 at his trial hearing, saying he is deeply repentant and has testified candidly, in the trials of other cult defendants, about his involvement in various crimes.
Hayakawa, 48, is suspected of taking part in a series of crimes, including the November 1989 slayings of Yokohama lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, the attorney's wife and their 1-year-old son.
The court convened for the opening statement by the defense Sept. 25, after hearing the prosecution's case for about 1 1/2 years. Hayakawa's lawyers tried to tone down the popular image of their client as Aum's so-called No. 2 man. "Various media organizations, ranging from TV, weeklies to other magazines, had cooked up a stereotyped image of the defendant, repeatedly calling him 'the mastermind,' 'No. 2,' 'the guy who manipulates (Aum founder Shoko) Asahara,' 'the only man whose mind is not controlled,' and 'the guy who has led Aum Shinrikyo's efforts to arm itself,'" one lawyer read aloud from the statement. "We had held the same perception before meeting him. But it took us little time to find that these were false images."