Shoko Asahara

Asahara, 49, was sentenced to death in February by the Tokyo District Court in connection with 13 cases, including the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system and another fatal nerve gas attack the previous year.

The submission deadline has been extended to late August from Jan. 11. His lawyers had asked the high court to extend the deadline until February 2007, saying they could not prepare the documents because they could not communicate well with Asahara.

But the high court rejected the request, saying such an extension would be too long. The lawyers then filed a request for a shorter extension.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 15, 2005
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