Man sentenced to death for attack on Japanese film studio that killed 36 Man sentenced to death for attack on Japanese film studio that killed 36

Four and a half years after an arson attack on an animation studio in Japan that left 36 dead, a court has sentenced the perpetrator to death. The Kyoto court found the 45-year-old suspect guilty of murder and other crimes on Thursday, broadcaster NHK and Japanese newspapers reported. The presiding judge said he was neither mentally ill nor of diminished mental capacity at the time of the offense in July 2019. The arson caused horror, especially among anime fans in Japan and around the world.

The court made an appropriate decision in accordance with the law, said the head of the affected film studio, Hideaki Hatta, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo. “But even after the verdict, our sadness has not diminished in the least.” The fire also injured 32 studio employees.

The defendant confessed to setting fire to the animation studio in the ancient imperial city of Kyoto. At that moment he entered the studio building and spilled a flammable liquid. He then set fire to the building while shouting, “Die!” He told investigators that the studio stole his idea for a work. The Kyoto Animation company produced a number of popular television animated series, especially in the 2000s, such as ‘K-On!’, ‘Free!’ and “Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu”, which are mainly aimed at the younger generation.

Because the suspect confessed, the focus of the proceedings was reportedly mainly on the question of whether he was responsible. His lawyers had argued that he was delusional. The judge now followed the Public Prosecution Service, according to which the perpetrator was criminally responsible. She had sought the death penalty for murder, arson and other charges.

The trial only started last September. The perpetrator suffered life-threatening burns in the fire and required long-term treatment.

The world’s third-largest economy is one of the few industrialized countries that adhere to the death penalty. It can take years or even decades for a death sentence to be carried out in the country. Most people sentenced to death are in solitary confinement. Prisoners on death row are only told minutes before their execution on the gallows that they will die.

According to an Amnesty International report on death sentences and executions in 2022, the execution of a convict in Japan was reported at the time. By the end of the same year, there were still 116 people sentenced to death in the country. (saw/sda/dpa)