TOKYO, March 19 (Kyodo) - (EDS: SUPPORT GROUP'S PHONE NO. IS 03-3502-7033.)
A support group for victims of the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 12 and sickened thousands called on the state to provide support for suffers on Monday, a day before the sixth anniversary of the incident.
The group said it has indefinitely postponed its offer of free medical examinations for victims of the attack, allegedly committed by AUM Shinrikyo members, because the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare was reluctant to offer support.
At a news conference in Tokyo, group representative Saburo Abe said in mid-February that it asked the ministry to fund its free medical examination plan, but the ministry said it would be ''impossible.''
''Treatment for victims of sarin gas has not been established. It is thus important to build up data (on patients) every year (through examination),'' he said.
''I hope the government will act as soon as possible to provide support for victims,'' said Abe, a lawyer also serving as a receiver in bankruptcy proceedings for AUM.
Last spring, the group conducted free diagnostic services for about 360 victims of the Tokyo attack and another sarin incident in Nagano Prefecture in 1994.
He said more than 60% of those examined showed ailments ranging from headache to hand and leg numbness to sight deterioration.
Some also complained of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), symptoms of which include sleep disorders, depression and anxiety, saying they were haunted by vivid images of the incidents.
Shizue Takahashi, a 54-year-old widow who lost her subway employee husband in the Tokyo assault, told reporters, ''It's a lie to say that time heals grief.''
She said she hopes 46-year-old AUM founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, receives the death penalty.
At around 8 a.m. on March 20, 1995, sarin gas was released inside five cars on three Tokyo subway lines, killing 12 passengers and subway workers and leaving more than 5,000 commuters sick.
Investigators believe the attack was perpetrated by AUM cultists to distract police probes into the sect, which had been accused of a series of crimes such as confinement of members who tried to escape it.
Asahara, believed to have masterminded the attack, and 13 others have been charged with murder or attempted murder in the incident. Trials are still going on for five of the 14 defendants at the Tokyo District Court.
The four others are Masami Tsuchiya, 36, Tomomasa Nakagawa, 38, Seiichi Endo, 40, who all are thought to be responsible for manufacturing the deadly gas, and Tomomitsu Niimi, 37, who allegedly drove a getaway car in the assault.
So far, the district court has handed down rulings to nine. Capital punishment was given to four, while the five others were given indefinite jail terms. The sentences for eight have been appealed.
Tatsuko Muraoka, a representative of the cult, on Monday apologized for the ''grave consequence'' of the subway attack and its ''incalculable damages to the lives of several thousand innocent citizens and causing tremendous fear and trepidation to the nation.''
The cult ''will continue making efforts at compensating and apologizing to the bereaved families and victims,'' she said.
AP-NY-03-19-01 0850EST
Copyright 2001 The Kyodo News Service.