-Caveat Lector-

Nando Times

<http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/0,1643,500473098-500725327-50408
2
409-0,00.html>


Japanese doomsday cult growing through Internet, authorities say

The Associated Press

TOKYO (April 13, 2001 11:02 a.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - The
doomsday cult behind the deadly gas attack on a Tokyo subway in 1995 is
growing steadily and reasserting influence through the Internet, the
government said Friday.

Aum Shinri Kyo membership has grown by about 150, or 10 percent, with at
least 1,650 followers by the end of last year, the Justice Ministry said in
a report submitted to the Cabinet. About 650 of them are carrying out cult
activities at group homes and facilities, it said.

The group was responsible for the sarin gas attack on March 20, 1995 that
killed 12 people and sickened thousands. The incident has shaken people's
sense of security in Japan, which has enjoyed a relatively low crime rate.

The report said that on the surface the group has changed its name,
acknowledged its responsibility for the subway gassing and apologized. But
fundamentally, it remains the same.

"The group's dangerous nature has not changed even though no poisonous
substances or ingredients have been found at their facilities," the report
said. "Its deceptive nature is unchanged."

Investigators at the Public Safety Agency have found 29 Aum facilities and
200 apartment houses in 10 onsite inspections.

The cult, which now calls itself Aleph, is expanding its computer-related
business and raking in profits from its 13 companies. Under influential
leader Fumihiro Joyu's "cyber cult" plan, the group continues spreading its
"dangerous" teachings on the Net, the report said.

Joyu, jailed guru Shoko Asahara's most-trusted aide, was released from
prison in December 1999 and is considered the cult's de facto leader.

The cult also earns funds by charging expensive fees through the sale of
books and compact discs containing Asahara's teachings and seminars.

The group is moving to expand overseas as well, said the report, which did
not specify where.

The cult is by law under Public Safety Agency surveillance. The Justice
Ministry is responsible for publishing the cult's activities in an annual
report. The latest update is for the period between May 16 and December 31,
2000.

Judges have handed down death sentences to several former leaders in the gas
attack and other killings. Guru Shoko Asahara is still on trial for
masterminding the 1995 gassing and 16 other charges.

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