overseas media on Falun Gong

TOKYO: Two members of a Japanese doomsday cult were sentenced to death yesterday for murder and attempted murder for a 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway in which 12 people died, NHK reported.

A third man, Shigeo Sugimoto, who drove a getaway car, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Tokyo District Court Judge Manabu Yamazaki said former Aum Shinrikyo, or Supreme Truth, cult members Toru Toyoda, 32, and Kenichi Hirose, 36, deserved the death penalty for their role in releasing sarin nerve gas in an incident that injured thousands.

The two men admitted the charges but argued that their minds had been controlled by cult leader Shoko Asahara, claiming he masterminded the attack.

Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, remains on trial for organizing the gassing and 16 other charges.

Asahara's trial, now in its fifth year, promises to go on much longer with some legal experts saying it may well take more than 15 years for a final verdict.

Another key member of the cult, 42-year-old Yasuo Hayashi - dubbed a "murder machine" by the media for his crimes - was last month sentenced to death because, the judge said, he released the largest amount of sarin gas on the underground.

While most of Aum's leaders are behind bars, the cult remains active, prompting the government to place it under surveillance in February for three years, a move allowing authorities to inspect all its sites.

For its part, the cult has changed its name to Aleph - the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet - and insists it is now a benign religious group.

In the past, Aum preached the world was coming to an end and that the cult must arm itself to prepare for various calamities.