TOKYO, Feb. 8 (Kyodo) - Prosecutors on Thursday asked the Tokyo High Court to sentence a former AUM Shinrikyo follower to life in prison for his involvement in a nerve-gas attack that killed seven people in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in 1994.
At the first appeal hearing, prosecutors said a lower court ruling on the case overlooked Takashi Tomita, 42, who they claim played a crucial role in executing indiscriminate mass murder.
Tomita's sentence -- 17 years in jail -- was ''too lenient'' in comparison to the punishment meted out to other AUM followers in previous rulings, they said.
Lawyers representing Tomita claimed he was not guilty, saying he ''was not aware that gas was poisonous.''
Tomita was sentenced by the Tokyo District Court in June 1998 to 17 years in prison for murder and attempted murder in connection with the Matsumoto gas attack, which took place on June 27, 1994.
Tomita was believed to have guarded the AUM member who spread the gas during the attack.
Both prosecutors and Tomita appealed the 1998 ruling.
AUM founder Shoko Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, and numerous followers have been tried on a number of counts, including charges in connection with the March 1995 sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system, which killed 12 people and injured thousands. The group now calls itself Aleph.
AP-NY-02-07-01 2245EST
Copyright 2001 The Kyodo News Service