Japan arsonist who killed 36 appeals death sentence

File photo : Shinji Aoba, who is suspected of the Kyoto Animation studio arson attack, looks up as he is transported on a stretcher to the Fushimi police station in Kyoto on May 27, 2020.//AFP

Tokyo, Japan – A Japanese man sentenced to death for an arson attack that killed 36 people at an anime studio appealed the ruling on Friday, a court said.

Shinji Aoba, 45, was convicted on Thursday over the 2019 blaze at the studios of Kyoto Animation — Japan’s deadliest crime in decades. His lawyers had entered a plea of not guilty, saying he had a mental disorder, but the judge rejected this.

On Friday his defence team appealed the ruling, a Kyoto District Court spokesman told AFP. Japan is one of the few developed countries with capital punishment and public support for it is high.

As of December, 107 people were on death row. Many of those killed in the July 2019 fire were young,…