Justice delayed: Tokyo gets its own O.J. trial

International | Japan's clogged court system struggles to punish a celebrity cultist and his band of terrorists | Mindy Belz

The talk of Tokyo is the trial of Shoko Asahara, which has been likened to judicial proceedings against O. J. Simpson. Mr. Asahara, leader of the Aum Shinrikyo cult, stands accused of masterminding a widely publicized nerve gas attack in a Tokyo subway in 1995 that resulted in 12 deaths.

In Japan, Mr. Asahara is something of a celebrity-criminal, at one time claiming as many as 10,000 followers. His trial has proven to be an endless parade of frightful revelations of base malevolence. It has revealed, too, the weaknesses of Japan's judicial system, while at the same time highlighting the tenacity of the cult of personality. And, like the L.A. proceedings against the former football star, it just goes on and on.

Since April 1996, there have been 65 trials pertaining to Aum cult members. In addition to the Tokyo subway attack, five Aum members were convicted in a nerve gas attack in Matsumoto that killed seven people in 1994. Legal experts predict that Mr. Asahara's case, as well as others stemming from the March 1995 incident, could go on for more than a decade. Only one trial has ended in a conviction.