According to multiple accounts, Aoba broke into the studio building and poured gasoline on it before setting it on fire while yelling, “You’re going to die.”
At the end of the sentences, the Japanese man responsible for the arson, in July 2019, of an animation studio in Kyoto, which cost the lives of 36 people, was sentenced.
Shinji Aoba, 45, set fire to the Kyoto Animation studio in revenge, a crime that has shocked and outraged Japan and is considered the country’s deadliest in decades.
Aoba was charged with five offences, including murder, attempted murder and arson. The prosecution had requested the death penalty last month.
Most of the people killed in the fire were young workers at the Kyoto Animation studio, also known as “KyoAni”. More than 30 others were injured.
“I didn’t think that so many people would die and I think now that I overdid it,” the defendant said on the first day of his trial, in September.
“I believe I have to pay for my crime (with this sentence),” he said in December when asked about the victims’ families’ desire for him to be given the death penalty.
“Delirium”
According to multiple accounts, Aoba broke into the studio building and poured gasoline on it before setting it on fire while yelling, “You’re going to die.”
The firefighters had described the fire as “unprecedented” and had underlined that extinguishing it, as well as rescuing the people who were in the building, were “extremely difficult”.
Aoba wanted revenge on the studio because he was convinced it had stolen a script idea from him, something Kyoto Animation vehemently denied. Prosecutors called the defendant’s claim “delusional.”
Aoba himself was seriously injured in the fire and had to undergo several operations. He appeared at his trial in a wheelchair.
His lawyers have pleaded not guilty, claiming he is “incapable of knowing right from wrong” because of his psychiatric problems. But the court rejected this claim.
After the US, Japan is one of the few democratic countries that still uses the death penalty, by hanging, and the majority of Japanese public opinion still supports it, despite criticism from abroad.
More than 100 death row inmates await execution in Japan, where the most recent execution took place in 2022.
Source :Skai
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
