Japan court sentences arsonist to death for deadly attack on Kyoto Animation studio

Tokyo CNN —

A Japanese court on Thursday sentenced a 45-year-old man to death for setting fire to the renowned Kyoto Animation studio in 2019, which left 36 people dead in the country’s worst mass killing in almost 20 years, according to public broadcaster NHK.

The defendant, Shinji Aoba, was charged with murder and arson after telling police his work had been plagiarized and that he used gasoline to set fire to the studio. He was found guilty by the Kyoto District Court on Thursday.

Dozens of people were inside the three-story building at the time of the blaze, which spread so rapidly that many did not have time to escape, police said at the time. All those who died were employees, with at least 32 others injured.

In his ruling, the court’s presiding Judge Keisuke Masuda called Aoba’s crime “truly atrocious and inhumane.” The victims’ deaths were “too serious and tragic,” Masuda said, describing how flames and smoke engulfed the studio.

“The horror and pain of the victims who died in Studio 1, which turned into a hell in an instant, or who died afterward, is beyond description,” the judge said.

In a 2019 news conference, police said Aoba had unspecified mental health issues.

A man prays after laying flowers near the Kyoto Animation studio building after an arson attack on July 19, 2019 in Kyoto, Japan.

He pleaded not guilty at the trial, which began last September, with his defense lawyers arguing he had a mental disorder and could not be held criminally responsible.

Prosecutors however called for the death penalty, arguing Aoba was fully competent.

Among industrialized democracies, only Japan and parts of the United States retain capital punishment. Rights group including Amnesty International say international