TOKYO (Sputnik) — Katsuya Takahashi, 57, was the getaway driver who helped other members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult leave the crime scene.
He also faced charges for three other attacks organized by the religious group in the early 1990s.
Senpai Coast to Coast #Japanese History: The Evils of Aum Shinrikyo http://t.co/iyhcmaPIjp
— Josh Dunham (@Josh_Dunham) April 19, 2015
Takahashi never admitted his guilt for any of the attacks, including the 1995 kidnapping and killing of a Tokyo notary and a failed bomb attack on the then-Tokyo governor.
Aum Shinrikyo terrorist group in Japan. All of the Japanese wants a rapid execution of Shoko Asahara guru and all executives.
— Y_Mukai (@Y_Mukai) April 30, 2015
On the run for 17 years, he was finally arrested in June 2012.
Aum driver Takahashi gets life term for role in ’95 sarin attack on Tokyo subway: The Tokyo District Court han… http://t.co/Am5wNK6ZCU
— Agung Mulyawan (@oneeechaan) April 30, 2015
In March 1995, Aum Shinrikyo organized and carried out the first-ever known terrorist attack using chemical weapons.
Twelve leaders of the group were sentenced to capital punishment for dispersing the deadly sarin gas on several lines of the Tokyo metro. Five of the sect's members received life sentences.
The Aum Shinrikyo doomsday religious movement, founded in 1984, is recognized as a terrorist group by a number of states, including Russia, EU countries, the United States, Canada and Kazakhstan.