TOKYO, Dec 18 (NNN-NHK) – Japanese prosecutors demanded a life sentence for Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of fatally shooting former Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in 2022, during the trial of the case at the Nara District Court, today.
The trial proceedings have now concluded, and the court is scheduled to hand down its verdict in January next year.
Abe was shot and killed on July 8, 2022, while delivering a campaign speech on a street in Nara, in support of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate, in the House of Councillors election. Yamagami was arrested at the scene.
Yamagami admitted to murdering Abe during earlier trial, saying that, he committed the crime due to a grudge he held against the Unification Church, which he believed had close ties to Abe and other Japanese politicians.
Yamagami said that, massive donations – likely some 100 million yen (about 641,000 U.S. dollars) – his mother made to the group, caused his family’s financial ruin.– NNN-NHK