A former AUM Shinrikyo cult senior member Tomomitsu Niimi, who is appealing a death sentence he has been handed for his roles in mass murder cases committed by the cult, has registered his marriage to a cult follower, Tokyo police said.
Investigators suspect Niimi, 39, married the woman in a bid to use her as a messenger between him and the cult, noting that only relatives can visit the defendant once he is put in prison.
Since he is appealing the ruling to a high court, Niimi is still in a detention center.
The cult denied his marriage was aimed at securing communication channels with cult leaders. "The sect can't make a decision on such a personal matter. The woman is not an active member of the cult," Hiroshi Araki, public relations manager of the cult, said.
The defense lawyer for Niimi declined to comment on the revelations. In December last year, Niimi registered his marriage to a follower who was developing computer software at a cult-affiliated company, according to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Public Security Division.
During a raid on a cult facility in spring last year, the division confiscated documents showing that Niimi frequently communicated with the cult's headquarters over how to run the organization.
One of the documents clearly demonstrated that Niimi was asking cult leaders to introduce to him a woman he could marry.
Defense lawyers can legally meet their clients at detention centers. Under the Prison Law, however, only relatives can meet those who have been placed in prisons after the Supreme Court dismisses their appeals or they give up appealing the sentences on them.
In 2000, AUM Shinrikyo declared that it would break off relations with cult followers who failed to express their regret over involvement in crimes masterminded by cult founder Shoko Asahara.
However, Niimi declared throughout his trial that he still follows Asahara, 48, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto. The MPD Public Security Division believes that the cult's declaration is just a lie aimed at making itself look clean of criminal activities.
Niimi has been slapped with a death sentence for his involvement in a series of crimes committed by the cult, including a 1995 sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway trains that left 12 people dead and sickened thousands of others.