Cultist says Inoue lied about guru

The Japan Times/June 10, 1999

An Aum Shinrikyo senior cultist on Thursday accused another former follower of giving false evidence in the alleged drugging-killing of a Tokyo notary public in February 1995.

Yoshihiro Inoue, who left the cult after his arrest, testified in a trial hearing for Aum founder Shoko Asahara, that the guru ordered other cultists to abduct and drug Kiyoshi Kariya. Asahara gave them detailed roles in a meeting the day before the alleged abduction, Inoue testified.

But Noboru Nakamura, 32, who said he is a faithful follower of Asahara, told the Tokyo District Court that the cult leader did not order the abduction of Kariya.

"It is possible that followers had distorted the meaning of the guru's words," said Nakamura, who also stands accused of being involved in the 1994 sarin gas attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.

According to Nakamura, Asahara only said it was necessary to find the whereabouts of Kariya's sister, a follower who was missing at that time.