Japanese cult leader unfit for appeals trial: lawyers

Shoko Asahara, 50, was found guilty of responsibility for the 1995 gassing that killed 12 and sickened thousands, and sentenced to death by a Tokyo court in February last year. He has appealed the sentence, but his lawyers said Asahara, who has been unable to communicate with them, let alone speak, was unfit to stand trial and should be moved to a hospital for treatment for his mental condition.

"All he can do is grunt 'un'. It's more like a sound, not a voice," said lawyer Takeshi Matsui, adding that Asahara had sometimes suddenly broken into laughter or gone into a spasm in the 120 times the lawyers had visited him at a Tokyo detention center.

Matsui also said Asahara was incontinent, wore diapers and used a wheelchair.

"How can the court judge that he is normal? I am enraged," he told a news conference.

Psychiatrists hired by the lawyers have said Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, may be suffering from a brain disorder, and one psychiatrist has judged that the former guru is incompetent, Matsui said.

The Tokyo High Court rejected the defense's previous request to suspend the case, but it has appointed a psychiatrist and the doctor is currently conducting an evaluation on Asahara.

The defense team criticized the court for refusing to recognize Asahara's illness and rushing to move on with the trial, saying the court was keen to finalize the death sentence.

"They think that they have to listen to the voice of society. They think that society wants this evil man to be executed right away," said Akio Matsushita, another member of the defense.

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