Continued surveillance sought for Aum-linked groups

November 20, 2017

Tokyo- Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency requested Monday an extension of the surveillance period for groups deriving from the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult for three more years.

The agency filed the request with the Public Security Examination Commission, which is affiliated with the Justice Ministry.

If approved, the surveillance period, currently set to expire in January 2018, would be extended for the sixth time, until 2021.

During such a surveillance period, authorities can conduct on-site inspections of designated groups under the country's law regulating organizations that have carried out indiscriminate mass murder.

The three groups are Aleph, which is Aum's successor organization, "Hikari no Wa," which is a splinter group of Aleph, and another group recently separated from Aleph, called "Yamada-ra no Shudan."

They are viewed as still under the heavy influence of Chizuo Matsumoto, 62, guru of Aum, which carried out a deadly sarin nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subway system in 1995. The attack left 13 people dead and more than 6,000 injured. Matsumoto, who went by the name Shoko Asahara, is on death row.

The intelligence agency claimed that the three usually operate as separate groups but share the same objective of spreading and realizing Aum's doctrines. Although Hikari no Wa denies following Matsumoto, the agency said the group is only pretending not to be under his influence.

"The groups are dangerous," Seimei Nakagawa, head of the agency, told a press conference, criticizing one or some of the groups for upholding a platform that encouraged murder.

In September, Tokyo District Court issued a ruling to lift the surveillance on Hikari no Wa, while maintaining the measure on Aleph.

The court judged that Aleph is deepening its ties with Matsumoto's doctrines, while Hikari no Wa has rejected them. It also ruled that the two groups cannot be viewed as one organization based a single decision-making structure.

The state appealed the ruling. If the decision is finalized by a higher court, the surveillance on Hikari no Wa will be lifted.

According to the agency, the three groups together own 34 facilities in 15 prefectures in Japan. Several related sites are also located in Russia.

Aleph has some 1,500 members in Japan, including the 30 who left the group to start Yamada-ra no Shudan in 2015, and around 400 members in Russia. Hikari no Wa has about 150 members in Japan and some 60 in Russia. Jiji Press