TOKYO, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Security officials in Japan are bracing for the verdict of a cult leader accused of killing 20 people in a subway gas attack.
In the past nine years, Shoko Asahara has been through 256 trial hearings, at which 160 witnesses testified, and the Time of London reports it is widely expected Asahara will be found guilty and sentenced to death.
During his trial as leader of the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult, Asahara changed his defense team three times.
The 1995 Tokyo underground sarin gassing killed 20 people, injured thousands more and horrified the nation. The courts already have tried 11 other cult figures, and all were sentenced to hang.
Last week agents from the Public Security Intelligence Agency raided 11 of the group's remaining facilities around Japan. There have been 71 such raids since 1995, but the timing was significant, the report said.
Political analysts said the raid represented the clearest possible sign the death penalty will be given to the former leader, and authorities are poised to smack down any backlash from the cult.
