Japan Guru Fires Lawyer, Delaying Murder Trial : Law: Cult leader Asahara is accused of ordering poison gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 12, sickened 5,500.

Sixteen hours before what Japan has billed as its own “trial of the century” was to begin, Shoko Asahara, 40, the cult leader accused of ordering a poison gas attack on subways here in March, forced a postponement of his murder trial by unexpectedly firing his lawyer Wednesday.

Tokyo District Court, which had spent months preparing for the trial, issued a rare statement condemning Asahara’s action as “extremely regrettable.” Several victims of the subway attack, which killed 12 people and sickened 5,500, accused him of trying to avoid trial.

Under Japanese law, a defendant may not be brought to trial for serious charges, such as murder, without a lawyer. In six indictments, Asahara is charged with ordering the murders of more than 20 people.

Representatives of Asahara’s doomsday cult, Aum Supreme Truth, offered no explanation why Asahara fired Shoji Yokoyama, 67, an Osaka attorney who handles mainly clients unable to repay debts to loan sharks. A day earlier, 10 of Yokoyama’s clients said they plan to sue him for mishandling funds they had given him to repay their creditors.

On Sunday, Yokoyama suffered what he described as whiplash in a traffic accident while riding in a car driven by a cult member, but the lawyer had said he planned to appear in court today as scheduled. He also told reporters Asahara planned to plead not guilty to all charges.

After Asahara fired Yokoyama, Asahara’s wife arranged for another attorney to defend her husband. However, when that lawyer met Asahara, he quit.

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Bar association leaders have acknowledged that hostile public sentiment against Supreme Truth makes it difficult for any lawyer to defend Asahara and about 170 other cult members who have been charged with a variety of crimes.

Lawyers appointed by the court to do research and support work for cult defendants were assured by the Tokyo Bar Assn. that their names would be kept secret.

The trial is not likely to get under way until next year, legal analysts said.

Japanese mass media were forced to cancel their planned explosion of coverage. TV Asahi had scheduled 13 hours of coverage today and was forced to tell sponsors that the station would air only its regular programming. Tents erected outside the court to serve as TV “studios” were dismantled, and hundreds of students hired by the media to wait in a lottery line for a chance to win a seat at the opening session were dismissed.

In a separate development, 14 relatives of six dead victims and 15 people who were injured in the poison gas attack filed a civil suit seeking $6.8 million in damages from Asahara and the Supreme Truth sect. It was the first of what is expected to become a series of civil suits against the wealthy cult.