FUKUOKA -- A former AUM Shinrikyo top member passed the entrance examination of Kyushu University medical faculty but was refused admission because of his former membership with the cult, officials said Friday.
The 33-year-old man, whose name is being withheld, was a top member of the cult's "Cabinet secretariat" and a close aide to guru Shoko Asahara.
Kyushu University officials said that they would not allow him to study at the university because they believe his past activities in the cult and the position he held were not suitable for medical education.
"We learned from reports that he joined the group when he was a medical student (at the University of Tokyo) and played a part in the cult's activities," said Nobuhiko Kuwano, who heads the Kyushu University medical faculty. "We now believe he is unsuitable for receiving education that tries to save people's lives."
After the cult's sarin gassing in the Tokyo subway system in 1995, the man was arrested for confining children of woman followers in AUM facilities but was later released as law enforcers decided not to press charges.
He left the cult in May 1995, read law at Chuo University and graduated this year. He passed the Kyushu University medical faculty's examinations in February.
He submitted entrance documents to the medical faculty office but the university reportedly told him Friday that he would not be admitted. Officials quoted him as saying, "I understand."