Word: asahara
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Apocalyptic prophets are figures of fun because they're always wrong. Armageddon fails to arrive when they say it will. In Shoko Asahara's case, however, the prophet apparently made plans to ensure that his predictions would come true. They almost...
Since Japanese police arrested the guru of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on May 16, frightening facts have emerged indicating that Asahara had the money, the means and the intention to wreak his version of Armageddon on Japan. The March 20 nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and sickened 5,500, and the thwarted attempt to spread deadly hydrogen cyanide gas in the Shinjuku station on May 5 were intended as preludes to worse disasters, police sources are suggesting in leaks to the Japanese press. The big show was apparently set for November, when plans...
...building's false walls was a $700,000 lab able to turn out 60 to 80 kg a month of the nerve gas sarin -- enough to kill 6 million to 8 million people. One plan called for releasing the sarin over Tokyo from 1.65-m-long remote-controlled helicopters. Asahara would follow up the attack by overpowering the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and taking control of Japan with his own tanks and fighter jets. "It sounds incredible," says a former cult member who goes by the name of Akio Kawaguchi for fear of being found out by the cult...
Japanese officials are seeking to dissolve Japan's Aum Shinrikyo cult. Justice Minister Isao Maeda said he will ask a court to revoke the tax-exempt religious status of the group and ask that it be disbanded for engaging in "serious antisocial activities." Althoughguru Shoko Asahara and other top leaders remain behind barsfacing murder charges in theMar. 20 gas attack on Tokyo's subways, Aum members continue to chant prayers and hand out flyers on the street. Prosecutors are now seeking disciplinary action against Asahara's lawyer for smuggling out a tape-recorded message from the guru. The tapeinstructed members...
Japanese cult leader Shoko Asahara and six top aides were chargedwith murder in theMar. 20 gas attack on Tokyo's subwaysthat killed 12 people. Police had held the cult guru for three weeks while they grilled him in an attempt to get as much information as possible before filing charges. Now the real drama begins: a trial that experts say could go on for decades. Japanese trials don't have daily sessions; hearings are spread out over months. But the outcome is almost certain. Over 99 percent of people tried in Japan are convicted...