CHIBA, Japan, Sept. 27 (Kyodo) - Prosecutors on Thursday demanded 15 years in
prison for a cult leader accused of murdering a 66-year-old man whose mummified
body was found in 1999.
The prosecutors made the demand in a final argument in the trial of Koji
Takahashi, 63, leader of the self-enlightenment seminar Life Space, at the
Chiba District Court.
They said Takahashi, 63, killed Shinichi Kobayashi, a former company employee
in Kawanishi, Hyogo Prefecture, to secure his position as cult leader, keep his
followers under control and obtain money.
''It was an extremely antisocial, inhumane and cruel act and caused a serious
uneasiness in society. And (Takahashi) still fails to show any sign of
remorse,'' a prosecutor said in the argument.
The prosecutors also said Takahashi should be punished severely in order to
prevent a recurrence by similar cult groups led by ''absolute leaders'' such as
Takahashi.
According to the prosecutors, Takahashi ordered Kobayashi's son Kenji, 32, and
other followers to take Kobayashi from a hospital in Hyogo Prefecture where he
had been treated for cerebral bleeding, and moved to a hotel in Narita, Chiba
Prefecture, on July 2, 1999.
At the hotel Takahashi failed to allow Kobayashi to receive any necessary
medical treatment and tapped Kobayashi's body as part of a ''religious cure.''
As a result, Kobayashi suffocated to death three days later.
In previous hearings Takahashi pleaded not guilty to the charges saying that he
did not order that the victim be carried from the hospital to the hotel.
Takahashi also argued that he was not responsible for Kobayashi's death because
the victim was in the terminal stage of alcoholism and was incurable.
Kobayashi's mummified body was found in a room of the hotel Nov. 11. The case
gained a high profile when Takahashi made nonsensical remarks at a number of
press conferences before he was arrested along with seven followers including
Kobayashi's son Feb. 22 last year.