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Agence France-Presse

Japanese prosecutors on Wednesday charged a man with murder over the 2019 arson attack on Kyoto Animation that killed 36 people in the country’s deadliest violent crime in decades.
Shinji Aoba, 42, was detained in the aftermath of the July attack, but has been hospitalised since then with severe burns sustained in the incident.
There were no immediate details on the full extent of the charges against Aoba, who was only formally placed under arrest in May.
The Kyoto prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation.
Japan police arrest man over arson attack on KyoAni studio that killed 36 people
More than 30 people were also injured in the attack, in which Aoba is accused of breaking into the studio’s building, spreading petrol around the ground floor and setting it alight.
Aoba has reportedly confessed to the arson, and is said to have shouted “drop dead” before starting the fire.
There have been claims that he accused the studio of stealing his work, which Kyoto Animation has denied doing.
Aoba has likely been determined by medical experts to be mentally competent based on his calculated actions, such as purchasing petrol before the incident, meaning he can be held criminally liable for the attack.
Due to his documented history of mental illness, however, Kyoto prosecutors and police have been investigating whether Aoba can be held criminally liable. The trial is expected to focus heavily on the degree of his liability.
Aoba is currently under detention at the Osaka Detention House, which has medical facilities. He is bedridden and in need of daily care.

Many of those killed in the blaze were young, including a 21-year-old woman.
Parents of some of the victims told local media in May that they were still suffering the devastating loss of their loved ones.
“I think about her very often,” said Shinichi Tsuda, whose daughter Sachie was killed in the fire. “I think about her at the time of the incident, wondering how painful it would have been for her.”


The attack sent shock waves through the anime industry and its fans in Japan and around the world.
“These are people who carry the Japanese animation industry on their shoulders,” Kyoto Animation’s president Hideaki Hatta told reporters at the time. “It’s heartbreaking. Japanese jewels were lost.”
Additional reporting by Kyodo


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Japan charges man with murder over Kyoto Animation arson attack

Shinji Aoba, who was charged with killing 36 people at Kyoto Animation in July 2019, is seen on a stretcher as he is carried to a police station in May. Photo: Kyodo

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 18, 2019 shows smoke rising from an animation company after a fire in Kyoto. - Japanese prosecutors on December 16, 2020 charged Shinji Aoba with murder over the 2019 arson attack on Kyoto Animation that killed 36 people, local media said, the country's deadliest violent crime in decades. (Photo by STR / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT

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Japan police arrest man over arson attack on KyoAni studio that killed 36 people

Shinji Aoba is carried to a police station after being arrested in Kyoto on May 27, 2020. Photo: Kyodo via Reuters

FILE - In this July 19, 2019, file photo, a woman prays at a makeshift memorial to honor the victims of a fire at the building of Kyoto Animation's No. 1 studio, background, in Kyoto, western Japan. Japanese police on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, arrested 42-year-old Shinji Aoba, the suspect in a deadly arson at the animation studio after the alleged attacker regained enough strength from his own injury to respond to police investigation. Aoba is accused of storming into the studio, setting it on fire and killing 36 people. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

epa07726742 Kyoto police investigators examine the Kyoto Animation building, in Kyoto, Japan, 19 July 2019, where a man set fire to the building in a arson attack killing 33 people and injured 35 others, the previous day. News reports state that a 41-year-old man, who allegedly set fire to the building, has been detained. EPA-EFE/JIJI JAPAN OUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/ NO ARCHIVES

Shinji Aoba, a suspected arsonist who is suspected of killing 36 people at Kyoto Animation in July 2019, is seen on a stretcher as he is carried to Fushimi police station after being arrested in Kyoto, western Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo May 27, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. JAPAN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN JAPAN.

A woman (C) cries at an altar set up near a Kyoto Animation Co. studio in Kyoto on July 23, 2019, five days after a man set the three-story building on fire, leaving 34 people dead. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The suspect attacked Kyoto Animation studio in July 2019. File photo: Kyodo News via AP

Mourners pay tribute to victims of deadly Kyoto Animation arson attack

Mourners at a shrine set up near the Kyoto Animation studio. Photo: Kyodo

A woman (R) sheds tears as she offers flowers near the burnt-out, three-story studio of Kyoto Animation Co. in Kyoto on July 25, 2019, a week after an arson attack killed 34 people. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Shinji Aoba, who was severely burnt in the attack that killed 36, confessed to the arson and reportedly claimed the anime studio had stolen his work
He has a documented history of mental illness and his trial is likely to focus on the degree of his liability



Shinji Aoba, who was severely burnt in the attack that killed 36, confessed to the arson and reportedly claimed the anime studio had stolen his work.


Crime