"2 senior AUM members lay flowers for slain lawyer, family"

(Kyodo News Service, Sept. 10, 2000)

NIIGATA, Japan, Sept. 10 (Kyodo) - Two senior members of AUM Shinrikyo laid flowers Sunday to the sites where the bodies of an anti-AUM lawyer and his family were hidden after their murder by AUM members in 1989, marking the first such act by the cult.
The cult's public relations chief Hiroshi Araki and his deputy Seiwa Ito visited Nadachi town in Niigata Prefecture and Uozu in neighboring Toyama Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast to mourn lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, 33, and Sakamoto's wife Satoko, 29.
The two later visited Omachi in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, where the body of the couple's 1-year-old son Tatsuhiko was discovered.
They first visited the mountainous area in Uozu where Satoko's body was found and then drove to Mt. Okenashi in Nadachi, where they prayed silently for five minutes and laid bouquets at a memorial stone and tower dedicated to Sakamoto.
The pair also laid at the Nadachi site a card written by Araki that said, ''We truly apologize. We'll never repeat our mistakes.''
Araki said at the site where Sakamoto's body was found that he was visiting the location to pray for the dead family as a representative of the cult.
''When we think of what we did in the past, we cannot help accepting whatever criticism comes. But we decided that the first thing we have to do was to apologize for the deaths,'' Araki said.
Uozu locals placed obstacles on roads to Satoko's memorial in protest at the cult's move to lay flowers, forcing the two to walk some 10 kilometers to and from the stone.
The Sakamotos were murdered by then senior AUM members at their Yokohama home in November 1989 and their bodies were found in September 1995 based on depositions by the culprits. Sakamoto had been helping families of AUM members to pull their loved ones out of the cult.
Kazuaki Okazaki, Satoru Hashimoto and Kiyohide Hayakawa have been sentenced to death for the murders, while Tomomasa Nakagawa, another former AUM member, and incumbent AUM member Tomomitsu Niimi have been indicted over the killings.
AUM founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, has been indicted on charges of masterminding the murders along with the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.

"Court orders cultists to vacate"

("Japan Times," September 7, 2000)

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) The Yokohama District Court on Wednesday ordered Aum Shinrikyo to vacate its branch office in a Yokohama apartment building, supporting a request by the building's management association.
Presiding Judge Susumu Suenaga handed down the eviction order, saying it was possible Aum members could again commit heinous crimes, making it difficult for the building's other tenants to feel secure and live peacefully.
The Aum office, located in a building in Yokohama's Naka Ward, is the home of 37-year-old Fumihiro Joyu, a senior member of the cult who was released from prison in Hiroshima last December after completing a three-year jail term for perjury.
Police have been put on alert around the building because right wing groups have staged periodic protests against the cult.
According to the order, Aum opened its Yokohama branch at the apartment around 1989.
The building management association filed a suit with the court in January 1996, seeking the eviction of the group, whose members allegedly recited sutra loudly late at night and slept on emergency stairways.
A number of Aum members have been convicted or are on trial in serious criminal cases, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.
In its suit, the building management association said the cult had not changed its behavior, despite the arrests and convictions of many followers, and that those living in the building still feel anxiety and fear toward the group.
Aum said it no longer poses a danger as it has apologized for serious crimes committed by its members and is compensating victims of those cases.
The cult, which now calls itself Aleph, claimed that building residents were not being objective in their feelings about the group.

"Court orders AUM to vacate Yokohama office"

(Kyodo News Service, September 6, 2000)

YOKOHAMA, Sept. 6 (Kyodo) - The Yokohama District Court on Wednesday ordered the AUM Shinrikyo cult to vacate its branch office in a Yokohama apartment building, supporting a request by the building's management association.
Presiding Judge Susumu Suenaga handed down the eviction order, saying it was possible AUM members could again commit heinous crimes, making it difficult for the building's other tenants to feel secure and live peacefully.
The AUM office, located in a building in Yokohama's Naka Ward, is the home of 37-year-old Fumihiro Joyu, a senior member of the cult who was released from prison in Hiroshima last December after completing a three-year jail term for perjury.
Police have been put on alert around the building because right wing groups have staged periodic protests against the cult.
According to the order, AUM opened its Yokohama branch at the apartment around 1989. The building management association filed a suit with the court in January 1996, seeking the eviction of the group, whose members allegedly recited sutra loudly late at night and slept on emergency stairways.
A number of AUM members have been convicted or are on trial in serious criminal cases, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.
In its suit, the building management association said the cult had not changed its behavior, despite the arrests and convictions of many followers, and that those living in the building still feel anxiety and fear toward the group.
AUM said it no longer poses a danger as it has apologized for serious crimes committed by its members and is compensating victims of those cases. The cult, which now calls itself Aleph, claimed that building residents were not being objective in their feelings about the group.

"Niiza revokes ban on Aum settlers"

("Yomiuri Shimbun," September 6, 2000)

URAWA -- The municipal government of Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, has made an about-face on its earlier refusal of residence to followers of the Aum Supreme Truth cult and the school registration of their children and has now allowed them to settle in Niiza and send their children to school there on the condition that they do not establish a cult foothold or live in groups in the city, it was learned Tuesday.
Niiza is the nation's first municipal government to have changed its policy prohibiting settlement by Aum followers and their children.
Many municipal governments across the country have adamantly refused to allow Aum followers to register as residents in their towns and cities or to let their children to study there for fear the followers would transfer or extend their footholds to their municipalities.
Niiza Mayor Kenji Suda said the about-face was made because his government cannot keep on violating the law that guarantees children's right to an education.
The policy change, however, is controversial because although the municipal government decided in April to accept Aum followers and their children, it did not formally inform the assembly or local residents of the decision.
In August last year, the refusal of Tsurugashima, also in Saitama Prefecture, to accept residence and public school registrations from Aum followers and their children prompted most municipal governments in the prefecture to follow suit. The following month, Niiza adopted its basic policy to reject Aum followers.
Lawyers, however, argued that the policy violated the basic human rights of Aum followers, which are guaranteed by the Constitution.
When the municipal government of Tokigawamura in the prefecture refused to let the twin sisters of a convicted former Aum member study there, the prefectural and central government pointed out in February that the children's right to receive an education should be respected.
Suda then asked a city council--made up of municipal officials--in charge of dealing with the Aum Supreme Truth cult to review the basic policy on the assumption that the municipal government would lose if Aum members filed a lawsuit against it and that the municipal government could not remain in violation of the law.
On April 28, the municipal government's basic policy of refusing Aum members' residence registrations was changed to one of refusing residence registrations by those followers who wanted to live in groups.
Residence by individual Aum members or families will in principle be accepted. The ban on the education of Aum children at public schools was completely lifted. Suda said he still resolutely opposes the establishment of a foothold by Aum members and he requires them to obey the law.
Suda said he did not inform the assembly or local residents as the residence and schooling issues do not need assembly approval. He said he is simply trying to implement the policy without making waves and has not changed his policy on dealing with Aum members.
Assembly member Kunio Mimura, chairman of Shinwakai, a conservative bloc in the assembly, said he was upset that the municipal government adopted such an important policy without informing the assembly.
He added that, since any kind of Aum presence would be troublesome for Niiza, his group would study measures to deal with Aum followers.
Shoko Egawa, a journalist who has long covered the cult, said Suda did his duty as the city's mayor.
She said that if Niiza is the only municipality to accept Aum members, it may find itself flooded with cult followers, adding that she hopes other cities and towns will follow Niiza's lead.