The Tokyo High Court today upheld a death penalty for a former doomsday cult member convicted in attacks including the 1995 Tokyo subway nerve gassing that killed 12 people, a court official said.

FORMER Doomsday cult guru Shoko Asahara was sentenced to death today for masterminding the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway and a string of other attacks that killed 27 people.

Prosecutors are demanding the death penalty for a former doomsday cult leader who allegedly released deadly nerve gas in Tokyo's subways.