Photo/Illutration Shinji Aoba is captured by a security camera in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, on July 16, 2019, two days before the arson attack on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio. (Provided by a local resident)

Defense lawyers for Shinji Aoba, the convicted mass murderer sentenced to die for the arson attack at a Kyoto Animation Co. studio., are seeking to nullify his withdrawal of the appeal of the ruling.

They filed the motion on Jan. 30, according to the Osaka High Court.

Aoba, 46, was sentenced to death in January 2024 by the Kyoto District Court, as sought by the prosecution. He was convicted of murdering 36 people and attempting to murder 34 others in the arson attack at the studio in Kyoto in July 2019.

Aoba appealed the verdict, as his defense team argued that he was mentally incompetent to take responsibility for his actions and challenged the constitutionality of capital punishment.

However, Aoba himself withdrew the appeal on Jan. 27 this year.

The defense team is believed to have met with Aoba at the Osaka Detention House to clarify his intentions to drop the appeal before deciding to pursue the motion.

There is no clear legal guidance on how courts should rule if defense lawyers challenge the validity of their client’s decision to withdraw an appeal.

In some previous cases, particularly those involving the death penalty, courts have accepted the defense’s claim of invalidity and allowed the appeal process to continue.

Aoba, who claimed the animation studio had stolen ideas from his novel, nearly died from burns he suffered in the fire that he started.

He declined The Asahi Shimbun’s request for an interview following the withdrawal of the appeal.