Prosecutors demanded a life sentence Wednesday for former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Kiyotaka Tonozaki, who is charged with driving a getaway car for one of the cultists accused of releasing sarin in the March 1995 Tokyo subway nerve gas attack.
In a statement read before the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors said Tonozaki, 35, played an active and indispensable role in the indiscriminate murder of 12 people and the injury of thousands more in the subway attack because of his belief in the cult's self-righteous doctrine, and thus should be sentenced to life.
During Wednesday's session, prosecutors said Tonozaki showed no sign of regret for his participation in one of the nation's worst terrorist attacks. The defendant nervously listened to their three-hour statement.
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