32 ICSA TODAY
News Desk
Guru’s life shrouded in mystery as gallows loom
“Aum Shinrikyo guru Chizuo Matsumoto’s life in prison remains
a mystery even as the founder of Japan’s notorious doomsday cult
appears headed for the gallows. Last week, the Supreme Court
effectively cleared the way for authorizing capital punishment
for Matsumoto, 62, after upholding the indefinite prison term
imposed on the last remaining suspect in the disbanded cult’s
deadly 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system and other
crimes. … Matsumoto, whose death sentence was finalized in
September 2006, gets exercise, takes baths and accepts health
checks but adamantly refuses to meet visitors, the prison said.
During his initial trial before the Tokyo District Court between
1996 and 2004, he pleaded not guilty, insisting his cult’s crimes
were committed by his followers. … During his appeal trial
after the district court sentenced him to death in February
2004, Matsumoto’s defense lawyers claimed he was incapable
of standing trial and should be given medical treatment. The
Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that the execution of a
death row inmate must be deferred if the subject is mentally
incompetent. But the high court rejected his defense team’s claim
based mainly on the psychiatrist’s report and an interview with
Matsumoto by the judges. … For the former cultists on death
row, this buffer effectively vanished after the top court upheld
the ruling against 59-year-old Katsuya Takahashi last week. The
Justice Ministry is now beginning to consider their executions
in earnest, but it appears that it will not necessarily stick to the
tradition of suspending the death sentences of those whose
retrial petitions are pending. Matsumoto and at least seven of his
fellow Aum inmates have yet to see their latest retrial petitions
answered. And another is preparing to submit a retrial petition. In
July, the ministry broke the tradition for the first time in 18 years
by executing an inmate whose 10th retrial petition was pending.
Two inmates on their third and fourth petitions, respectively,
were hanged as well in December. … According to sources at the
Public Security Intelligence Agency, the main successor group
of the cult has been recruiting followers in their 30s or younger.
They approach people found wandering the shelves of the
spiritualism and religion-related sections of bookstores and invite
them to ‘study groups’ with the intention of building personal
connections. … ‘We must prepare for all sorts of (post-execution)
incidents, such as “lone wolf” terrorism or suicides,’ sources said
in a statement. ‘I want Asahara to be executed very soon,’ said
Hisashi Mizukami, the head of an anti-Aleph council in Adachi
Ward, where many followers reside. ‘But I’m also fearful of what
might happen.’” (The Japan Times, 01/25/18)
Bikram yoga guru seeks bankruptcy in wake of harassment
claims
“Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc, the studio that popularized doing
yoga in sauna heat, has filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
dogged by $16.7 million in legal judgments and numerous
lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct. Founder
Bikram Choudhury, who built a worldwide following with
classes of 26 yoga postures in rooms heated to 105 degrees
Fahrenheit (40.6°C), has been accused of sexual assault by his
yoga practitioners, students, instructors and teacher trainees. ...
‘Birkram [sic] Choudhury created a hyper-sexualized, offensive
and degrading environment for women by, among other things,
demanding that female staffers brush his hair and give him
massages,’ Bodden [‘former head of legal and international
affairs at Choudhury’s yoga school who has an $8 million claim
stemming from a wrongful dismissal case that included sexual
harassment claims’] said in her 2013 lawsuit. She also accused him
[Choudhury] of pressuring her to cover up sexual harassment of
women, and in a separate lawsuit filed this year, of fraudulently
transferring assets such as luxury cars including a Ferrari and a
Bentley to avoid paying judgments against him. ...The bankruptcy
filing, which included affiliates Bikram Inc and Bikram Yoga
College of India, follows heightened social awareness over sexual
misconduct in the wake of allegations against movie producer
Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K.
Restructuring experts have mentioned Chapter 11 bankruptcy
as an option for the Weinstein Company to avoid mounting legal
claims against its founder, Harvey Weinstein, over alleged sexual
crimes.” (Reuters, 11/10/17)
Buddhist group admits sexual abuse by teachers
“One of the [W]est’s largest Buddhist organisations has admitted
to sexual abuse by its teachers, announcing it will take urgent
measures to tackle the problem. Leaders of Shambhala
International, which has more than 200 meditation centres
across the world, including several in the UK, admitted to major
failures in how it dealt with ‘abhorrent sexual behavior.’ They said
the #MeToo movement, in which women share stories of sexual
assault and harassment, prompted the community to go through
their own ‘collective wake-up call.’ ...The council said it wanted
to make it clear it stood strongly against all forms of abuse and
discrimination and any efforts to ‘suppress reports of wrongdoing
or shame victims.’ It added that ‘ignorance or uncertainty as to
how to address the systemic nature of these harms’ had made
leaders ‘part of the problem.’ The letter comes after an active
member of the Shambhala community in the US, Andrea Winn,
published a report to raise awareness on ‘the frightening shadow
of sexualised violence lying across the heart of our community.’
...One woman, writing anonymously in the report, alleged: ‘I was
sexually abused by several men … My experience of abuse in the
Shambhala community has impacted my life over the decades.’
The report notes that a handful of male teachers have been
removed from their positions as the result of care and conduct
processes. Suzanne Newcombe, a research fellow at Inform,
an LSE-based charity that monitors new religious movements,
said that many Buddhist groups were having discussions about
consent and sex and power imbalances in light of the #MeToo
movement. ...Newcombe said a lot of the calls they received,
including reports of abuse, were about Buddhist groups in
the UK. ‘We used to get a lot of requests [to investigate] about
Scientology but now the majority are about Buddhist groups
because some of them [with problems] have not been outed in
the same way and have effective PR. People contact us because
Correspondents
,
Reports
30
News Desk
Guru’s life shrouded in mystery as gallows loom
“Aum Shinrikyo guru Chizuo Matsumoto’s life in prison remains
a mystery even as the founder of Japan’s notorious doomsday cult
appears headed for the gallows. Last week, the Supreme Court
effectively cleared the way for authorizing capital punishment
for Matsumoto, 62, after upholding the indefinite prison term
imposed on the last remaining suspect in the disbanded cult’s
deadly 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system and other
crimes. … Matsumoto, whose death sentence was finalized in
September 2006, gets exercise, takes baths and accepts health
checks but adamantly refuses to meet visitors, the prison said.
During his initial trial before the Tokyo District Court between
1996 and 2004, he pleaded not guilty, insisting his cult’s crimes
were committed by his followers. … During his appeal trial
after the district court sentenced him to death in February
2004, Matsumoto’s defense lawyers claimed he was incapable
of standing trial and should be given medical treatment. The
Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that the execution of a
death row inmate must be deferred if the subject is mentally
incompetent. But the high court rejected his defense team’s claim
based mainly on the psychiatrist’s report and an interview with
Matsumoto by the judges. … For the former cultists on death
row, this buffer effectively vanished after the top court upheld
the ruling against 59-year-old Katsuya Takahashi last week. The
Justice Ministry is now beginning to consider their executions
in earnest, but it appears that it will not necessarily stick to the
tradition of suspending the death sentences of those whose
retrial petitions are pending. Matsumoto and at least seven of his
fellow Aum inmates have yet to see their latest retrial petitions
answered. And another is preparing to submit a retrial petition. In
July, the ministry broke the tradition for the first time in 18 years
by executing an inmate whose 10th retrial petition was pending.
Two inmates on their third and fourth petitions, respectively,
were hanged as well in December. … According to sources at the
Public Security Intelligence Agency, the main successor group
of the cult has been recruiting followers in their 30s or younger.
They approach people found wandering the shelves of the
spiritualism and religion-related sections of bookstores and invite
them to ‘study groups’ with the intention of building personal
connections. … ‘We must prepare for all sorts of (post-execution)
incidents, such as “lone wolf” terrorism or suicides,’ sources said
in a statement. ‘I want Asahara to be executed very soon,’ said
Hisashi Mizukami, the head of an anti-Aleph council in Adachi
Ward, where many followers reside. ‘But I’m also fearful of what
might happen.’” (The Japan Times, 01/25/18)
Bikram yoga guru seeks bankruptcy in wake of harassment
claims
“Bikram Choudhury Yoga Inc, the studio that popularized doing
yoga in sauna heat, has filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
dogged by $16.7 million in legal judgments and numerous
lawsuits and allegations of sexual misconduct. Founder
Bikram Choudhury, who built a worldwide following with
classes of 26 yoga postures in rooms heated to 105 degrees
Fahrenheit (40.6°C), has been accused of sexual assault by his
yoga practitioners, students, instructors and teacher trainees. ...
‘Birkram [sic] Choudhury created a hyper-sexualized, offensive
and degrading environment for women by, among other things,
demanding that female staffers brush his hair and give him
massages,’ Bodden [‘former head of legal and international
affairs at Choudhury’s yoga school who has an $8 million claim
stemming from a wrongful dismissal case that included sexual
harassment claims’] said in her 2013 lawsuit. She also accused him
[Choudhury] of pressuring her to cover up sexual harassment of
women, and in a separate lawsuit filed this year, of fraudulently
transferring assets such as luxury cars including a Ferrari and a
Bentley to avoid paying judgments against him. ...The bankruptcy
filing, which included affiliates Bikram Inc and Bikram Yoga
College of India, follows heightened social awareness over sexual
misconduct in the wake of allegations against movie producer
Harvey Weinstein, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Louis C.K.
Restructuring experts have mentioned Chapter 11 bankruptcy
as an option for the Weinstein Company to avoid mounting legal
claims against its founder, Harvey Weinstein, over alleged sexual
crimes.” (Reuters, 11/10/17)
Buddhist group admits sexual abuse by teachers
“One of the [W]est’s largest Buddhist organisations has admitted
to sexual abuse by its teachers, announcing it will take urgent
measures to tackle the problem. Leaders of Shambhala
International, which has more than 200 meditation centres
across the world, including several in the UK, admitted to major
failures in how it dealt with ‘abhorrent sexual behavior.’ They said
the #MeToo movement, in which women share stories of sexual
assault and harassment, prompted the community to go through
their own ‘collective wake-up call.’ ...The council said it wanted
to make it clear it stood strongly against all forms of abuse and
discrimination and any efforts to ‘suppress reports of wrongdoing
or shame victims.’ It added that ‘ignorance or uncertainty as to
how to address the systemic nature of these harms’ had made
leaders ‘part of the problem.’ The letter comes after an active
member of the Shambhala community in the US, Andrea Winn,
published a report to raise awareness on ‘the frightening shadow
of sexualised violence lying across the heart of our community.’
...One woman, writing anonymously in the report, alleged: ‘I was
sexually abused by several men … My experience of abuse in the
Shambhala community has impacted my life over the decades.’
The report notes that a handful of male teachers have been
removed from their positions as the result of care and conduct
processes. Suzanne Newcombe, a research fellow at Inform,
an LSE-based charity that monitors new religious movements,
said that many Buddhist groups were having discussions about
consent and sex and power imbalances in light of the #MeToo
movement. ...Newcombe said a lot of the calls they received,
including reports of abuse, were about Buddhist groups in
the UK. ‘We used to get a lot of requests [to investigate] about
Scientology but now the majority are about Buddhist groups
because some of them [with problems] have not been outed in
the same way and have effective PR. People contact us because
Correspondents
,
Reports
30
