Author of fatal fire at animation studio sentenced to death

A man was sentenced to death in Japan on Thursday, January 25, for setting fire to an animation studio in Kyoto, in the west of the country, which killed 36 people in 2019, local media reported. The Kyoto animation studio fire involving Shinji Aoba, 45, is one of the crimes that has claimed the most victims in the archipelago in decades, and has sparked a wave of emotion and outrage in Japan and abroad.

Most of those killed in the fire were young employees of a Kyoto animation studio nicknamed “Kyoani”, including a 21-year-old woman. While more than 30 other people were injured. “I didn’t think so many people would die and now I think I’ve gone too far”

The accused was declared guilty on the first day of his trial last September. “I think I have to pay for my crime (this sentence)»He also speculated during another hearing in December, when he was asked about the wishes of victims’ families to be sentenced to death.

According to some testimonies, he entered the studio building and poured gasoline on it before setting it on fire, shouting: “You’re going to die”. Firefighters described the fire “unprecedented” and asserted that its extinction and saving people was “extremely difficult”. Shinji Aoba wanted revenge against Kyoya because he believed the company had stolen the story idea from him, an allegation strongly denied by the studio and which prosecutors said “mind”

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Mental disorders

The arsonist himself was severely burned in the incident on July 18, 2019, and his injuries required multiple surgeries. He appeared at his trial in a wheelchair. His lawyers pleaded not guilty, arguing that he had “The ability to distinguish between good and bad” Due to mental disorders. But for the prosecutor, the accused had “premeditated his act with strong murderous intent and was fully aware of the dangers involved in gasoline-fueled fires”.

Along with the United States, Japan is one of the few democratic countries that still practices the death penalty, which is carried out by hanging. Despite criticism abroad, Japanese public opinion remains largely favorable. The last execution in the country, where more than 100 convicts are on death row, is in 2022.