KyoAni Fire Case Suspect is Deemed Mentally Fit To Be Indicted

The Kyoto Animation Arson case had left many of us speechless. It is very rare for such a case to happen in Japan, and it is even worse that it claimed a significant number of lives.

More than a year has passed since the incident happened in July 2019, and the suspect is finally being indicted for the crimes that have been committed.

The Japanese prosecutors have confirmed that the suspect, Shinji Aoba, will be indicted under the suspicion of causing a fire at the Kyoto Animation studio last year. He will be indicted by 16th December.

The fire at Studio 1 had caused 33 deaths, and 36 people were seriously wounded.

The suspect was arrested on 27th May and was held in the Osaka Police Detention Centre.

Medical experts have declared that Aoba is mentally competent to stand the trial and be held liable if he caused the fire.

It has also been reported that a final decision will be taken only after the Kyoto District Public Prosecutors Office has talked things out with the higher authorities.

The suspect was arrested in May 2020, 10 months after the attack. This was due to Aoba himself being severely injured in the fire. He had third-degree burns, and it took some time to heal completely.

It was reported that Aoba had admitted to his crimes in May and that he thought he could kill many people if he used gasoline.

He said that Kyoto Animation had used one of his stories. He had indeed submitted some stories to KyoAni; however, those plots were rejected.

Several well-known names in the anime world like Yasuhiro Takemoto, Yoshiji Kigami, Futoshi Nishiya, Shouko Ikeda passed away in that incident.

The studio itself suffered a significant setback, and several projects and the 11th Kyoto Animation Awards were delayed or canceled.

Source: Asahi

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