The man who killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is serving time in prison
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A Japanese court sentenced a man who admitted to killing former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to life in prison on Wednesday. The case exposed decades of cozy relations between Japan’s ruling party and South Korea’s controversial church.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, previously pleaded guilty to murdering Abe in July 2022 during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
Abe, one of Japan’s most influential politicians, was working as a general counsel after stepping down as prime minister when he was killed in 2022 while campaigning in the western city of Nara. It shocked a nation that held guns tightly.
Yamagami pleaded guilty to murder in a trial that began in October. The Nara District Court announced on Wednesday that it had entered a guilty verdict and sentenced Yamagami to life in prison, as prosecutors had requested.
Yamagami said he killed Abe after seeing a video message the former leader sent to a group affiliated with the Unification Church. He added that his intention was to harm the church, which he hates, and to expose its relationship with Abe, investigators said.
Prosecutors are seeking life in prison for Yamagami, while his lawyers are seeking a sentence of no more than 20 years, citing his problems as a child of the church. Japanese law allows the death penalty for murder, but prosecutors rarely seek it unless at least two people are killed.
The disclosure of the close relationship between the ruling party Liberal Democratic Party and the church made the party withdraw from the church. It also led to an investigation that ended with a court ruling that stripped the Japanese branch of the church of its tax-exempt religious status and ordered it to disband. The church has appealed the case, pending a decision.
The police killings also led the National Police Agency to increase police protection for the elite.
He shot at the campaign stop
Abe was shot on July 8, 2022, while giving a speech outside a train station in Nara. In images captured by television cameras, two gunshots rang out as the politician raised his fist. He collapsed clutching his chest, his shirt covered in blood. Officials say Abe died almost instantly.
Yamagami was captured on the spot. He said he initially planned to kill the leader of the Unification Church but changed his direction to Abe because of the difficulty of getting close to the leader.
He told the court last year that he singled out Abe as a role model for communication between Japanese politics and the church, according to NHK.
Yamagami apologized to Abe’s widow, Akie Abe, at a previous court hearing, saying he had no hatred for his family and had no excuse to protect her, NHK said.
Yamagami’s case also brought attention to the children of members of the Unification Church in Japan, and influenced legislation aimed at limiting predatory solicitation of donations by religious groups and others.
Thousands of people have signed a petition seeking compensation for Yamagami, while others have sent care packages to his relatives and the facility where he is being held.
