After finally turning himself in after nearly 17 years as a fugitive, former AUM Shinrikyo cult member Makoto Hirata, 46, is mainly releasing information only through attorneys.
Hirata was arrested in connection with the case of the fatal 1995 kidnapping of notary public Kiyoshi Kariya, 68, and is being held at the Osaki Police Station in Tokyo, where the investigative headquarters for the case was established. Lawyer Taro Takimoto has released Hirata’s claims that he was in Japan during his years as a fugitive and that he had no contact with wanted former AUM members Katsuya Takahashi, 53, or Naoko Kikuchi, 40. Takimoto has revealed that Hirata has come close to tears during meetings, and says he is only releasing information approved by Hirata.

Takimoto is known for helping people after they have left religious cults. While a fugitive, Hirata is said to have looked at Takimoto’s blog, on which he called for Hirata to turn himself in. After he did, Hirata asked to meet Takimoto.

However, Hirata has reportedly refused to give much information to investigators on where he was hiding and who was supporting him. Though he has given details to attorneys about the events leading up to turning himself in, a senior investigator said he has refused to give important facts to police. Takimoto revealed to reporters that Hirata originally tried to turn himself in to the Osaki station and also tried calling a toll-free crime tip hotline.

One senior investigator speculated, “Although (Hirata) probably also wants to protect those who helped him during his time as a fugitive, distrust of police is likely at the root of his reticence.”

Around 60 officers make up the investigative headquarters at the Osaki station, including officers who were involved with AUM Shinrikyo investigations in 1995 and ones who were involved with tracking Hirata when he was on the run. Investigators say that deep knowledge of the teachings, organization, and social relations of the cult are necessary when questioning people who have been indoctrinated.

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Aum Shinrikyo (currently known as Aleph) was a Japanese cult and terrorist organization. The group was founded by Shoko Asahara in 1984. The group gained international notoriety in 1995, when it carried out the Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum_Shinrikyo

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Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway

The Sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, usually referred to in the Japanese media as the Subway Sarin Incident (地下鉄サリン事件 Chikatetsu Sarin Jiken?), was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated by members of Aum Shinrikyo on March 20, 1995.

In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on several lines of the Tokyo Metro, killing thirteen people, severely injuring fifty and causing temporary vision problems for nearly a thousand others. The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatachō, home to the Japanese government. It is the most serious attack to occur in Japan since the end of World War II.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway
Japanese Documentary

[Via Mainichi News]