Court Starts Hearings to Decide Sentence for KyoAni Attack Suspect

From Jiji

November 27 2023

KYOTO – A Japanese court started on Monday hearings to determine a sentence for a man accused of the July 2019 arson attack on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio, which killed more than 30 people.

The attack was an “unprecedented and gruesome mass arson and murder stemming from a misguided grudge,” public prosecutors said at the 17th hearing of the lay judge trial of the 45-year-old defendant, Shinji Aoba, who faces charges including murder.

Meanwhile, the defense side called on Kyoto District Court to consider whether the death penalty should be allowed.

In the incident on July 18, 2019, Aoba allegedly poured gasoline at the No. 1 studio of Kyoto Animation, better known as KyoAni, in the western Japan city of Kyoto and set it alight, killing 36 people and injuring 32 others.

“The court should focus on the gravity of the outcome, the planning and malicious nature of the attack, and Aoba’s motive, as well as bereaved families’ feelings toward punishment,” said the prosecutors, who argued that the defendant is competent to be held fully responsible for the fatal attack.