The sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system that the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo carried out exactly nine years ago this month is often cited as the first mass terrorist strike against civilians, and like al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Aum's former guru Shoko Asahara is accepted as the mastermind behind the crime his followers perpetrated.

Asahara's conviction and death sentence was a done deal the minute he was arrested in front of the entire nation in 1995. His long, drawn-out trial, which ended Feb. 27, played like farce and the press coverage of the 257 Tokyo District Court sessions focused on these farcical aspects, which centered on Asahara's bizarre behavior.

The sentence has not resulted in any kind of closure. Though the victims have said that it is what they wanted, they remain bitter and frustrated. A resident of the Yamanashi village where Aum manufactured sarin told an NHK reporter that Asahara should be executed 50 times, and the brother of a woman paralyzed in the subway attack told this newspaper that "the death penalty is not enough."