Japan cult leader denies guilt

A verdict in Mr Asahara's seven year trial should be given in February

Lawyers for the Japanese cult leader accused of masterminding a gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995 have insisted he is not guilty.

Shoko Asahara faces the death penalty for allegedly ordering the use of sarin gas which killed 12 people and made 5,000 others ill.

In final arguments, his legal team blamed Mr Asahara's disciples for the killings and a number of other crimes.

Mr Asahara, who led the Aum Shinrikyo cult, will hear his verdict next year.

This series of crimes could never have been committed under instructions from a genuine man of religion Asahara defence team

Defence lawyers will take two days to read out a document of more than 800 pages asserting their client's innocence.

"This series of crimes could never have been committed under instructions from a genuine man of religion," Japanese media quoted a defence lawyer as saying.

Mr Asahara himself has remained silent throughout most of the trial, even when questioned, though he did manage to raise his fist once and shout during Thursday's proceedings.

Ten other members of the cult have already been sentenced to death, including Tomomasa Nakagawa.

He was sentenced on Wednesday after being found guilty of helping to make the sarin gas and participating in other crimes by the cult.

Death penalty

Mr Asahara has been on trial for seven and a half years.

Aum Shinrikyo Renamed Aleph and claims it is now benign Has about 1,000 lay followers and 650 followers in cult communes Predicted an apocalypse that only cult members would survive

He originally refused to enter a plea, but in April 1997 told the court he was not guilty.

Prosecution lawyers concluded their case in April last year.

They demanded the death penalty, calling Mr Asahara the "mastermind" of the crimes and Japan's "most heinous criminal."

As well as the deaths caused by the subway gas attack in 1995, Mr Asahara is also charged with the 15 other killings alleged to have been carried out by the cult.

They include ordering a separate nerve gas attack in the central Japanese city of Matsumoto in July 1994 that killed seven people and hurt 144.

The date set for the verdict is 27 February 2004.

If found guilty, an appeal by Mr Asahara is possible - nine out of the 10 Aum Shinrikyo members sentenced to death have appealed.