TOKYO, Jan 21 (NNN-NHK) – A court in western Japan, today, sentenced a man to life in prison, for fatally shooting former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in 2022.
Prosecutors had demanded a life sentence for Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, calling the act of killing the former state leader by a handmade firearm at an outdoor political event “an unprecedented crime in the country’s postwar history.”
Abe was shot and killed on Jul 8, 2022, while delivering a campaign speech on a street, in the western Japanese city of Nara, in support of a ruling Liberal Democratic Party candidate, in the House of Councillors election. Yamagami was arrested at the scene.
Yamagami admitted to murdering Abe during his trial at the Nara District Court, saying that, he committed the crime due to a grudge he held against the Unification Church, because his family suffered financial ruin due to his mother’s large donations to the religious group, which he believed had close ties to Abe and other Japanese politicians.
Yamagami’s defence called for a prison term of no more than 20 years, arguing that he was a victim of a religious group’s harm, and that his “tragic” upbringing motivated him to kill Abe.
Following Yamagami’s arrest, a government probe into the Unification Church was launched over its solicitation of ruinous donations from members, leading to the Tokyo District Court’s order for the church to be dissolved, and stripped of its tax benefits as a religious corporation.
Scrutiny over the church’s links with Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers also grew, with some reportedly having received support during election campaigns, local media said.– NNN-NHK