TOKYO - The doomsday cult guru, Mr Shoko Asahara, programmed his Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect) for wanton murder by teaching followers that killing people would save their souls, prosecutors said yesterday.
Mr Asahara built a theology of murder based on "poa", a Tibetan Buddhist term for reincarnation to a higher existence, prosecutors said in an opening statement on day two of his trial in a heavily guarded court.
