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News Reading Competition
News 2

*Good morning, viewers. This is [Name] and you’re watching Saint Joseph News. Today is the
12th of February 2024 and we bring you the latest updates from around the globe.
Our headline today:
Japan court sentences arsonist to death for deadly attack on Kyoto Animation studio
A Japanese court on Thursday sentenced a 45-year-old man to death for setting fire to the
renowned Kyoto Animation studio in 2019, which left 36 people dead in the country’s worst
mass killing in almost 20 years, according to public broadcaster NHK.

The defendant, Shinji Aoba, was charged with murder and arson after telling police his work had
been plagiarized and that he used gasoline to set fire to the studio. He was found guilty by the
Kyoto District Court on Thursday.

Dozens of people were inside the three-story building at the time of the blaze, which spread so
rapidly that many did not have time to escape, police said at the time. All those who died were
employees, with at least 32 others injured.

In his ruling, the court’s presiding Judge Keisuke Masuda called Aoba’s crime “truly atrocious
and inhumane.” The victims’ deaths were “too serious and tragic,” Masuda said, describing how
flames and smoke engulfed the studio.

“The horror and pain of the victims who died in Studio 1, which turned into a hell in an instant, or
who died afterward, is beyond description,” the judge said.
In a 2019 news conference, police said Aoba had unspecified mental health issues.

He pleaded not guilty at the trial, which began last September, with his defense lawyers arguing
he had a mental disorder and could not be held criminally responsible.
Prosecutors however called for the death penalty, arguing Aoba was fully competent.

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Among industrialized democracies, only Japan and parts of the United States retain capital
punishment. Rights group including Amnesty International say international law prohibits using
the death penalty against people with mental disabilities.

On Thursday, the judge ruled that Aoba could determine right and wrong at the time of the
incident, according to NHK. His capacity for responsibility was “determined to have been neither
insane nor mentally incompetent at the time of the crime,” NHK reported.

Founded in 1981, Kyoto Animation – known as KyoAni – made its name producing high quality
animations that draw on both the mystical and the mundane.

Its popular works include animated series “Free!,” manga series “K-On!,” the anime TV
adaptation of “the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” and “Violet Evergarden,” which Netflix
picked up in 2018.

*That's all the news for today. Thanks for tuning in. Stay informed, stay connected. Always
follow the next update in Saint Joseph News. Good morning and see you next time!

(news source: Francesca Annio and Jessie Yeung, CNN)

Sanjose Aesthetic Festival 2024

Sanjose Aesthetic Festival 2024