The man sentenced to death in Japan on Thursday over the animation studio fire that killed 36 people in 2019 has appealed that verdict, a spokesman for the court in Kyoto (west of Japan) said. on Friday.
• Also read: Japan: Death sentence for the author of the deadly fire at an animation studio
• Also read: Japan: The defendant in the deadly fire at an animation studio has admitted the facts
That court sentenced Shinji Aoba, 45, to the death penalty on Thursday for setting fire to the Kyoto Animation Studio in revenge, one of the archipelago's deadliest crimes in decades.
His lawyers are appealing that ruling, a spokesman for the Kyoto court told AFP.
The court's president on Thursday described the crime as “truly cruel and inhumane,” which has caused an immense wave of emotion and outrage in Japan and abroad.
According to several witness accounts, Mr. Aoba broke into the building, poured gasoline on it before setting it on fire and shouting, “You will die.”
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Most of the victims were young employees of Kyoto Animation – nicknamed “KyoAni” – including a 21-year-old woman. More than 30 other people were injured in the disaster.
“I think I have to pay for my crime with (this sentence),” the perpetrator of the fire said during a hearing in December when asked about the desire of the victims' families to see him sentenced to death.
Shinji Aoba sought revenge against KyoAni because he believed the company had stolen a script idea from him, a claim the studio strongly denied and which prosecutors described as “delusional.”
His lawyers had pleaded not guilty, arguing that he “lacked the ability to distinguish between right and wrong” due to psychiatric disorders.
But judges ruled on Thursday that Mr Aoba did not suffer from dementia or reduced mental capacity at the time of the crime.
Japan is one of the democracies that continues to use the death penalty, like the United States and India. Executions are carried out by hanging.
Japanese public opinion remains largely supportive of the death penalty, despite criticism abroad.
The last execution in the country, with 107 convicts on death row last month, took place in 2022.