Man who killed former Japanese prime minister sentenced to life in prison
Global News
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, earlier admitted to killing Abe in July 2022 as the former prime minister was giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
A Japanese court on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment a man who admitted to assassinating former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
The case has revealed decades of cozy ties between Japan’s governing party and a controversial South Korean church.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, earlier admitted to killing Abe in July 2022 as the former prime minister was giving a campaign speech in the western city of Nara.
Abe, one of Japan’s most influential politicians, was serving as a regular lawmaker after leaving the prime minister’s job when he was killed. It shocked a nation with strict gun control.
Yamaguchi told investigators he was motivated by a desire to expose Japanese politicians’ ties to the Unification Church, which he blamed for encouraging his mother to neglect him during a difficult childhood.
Yamagami pleaded guilty to murder in the trial that started in October. The Nara District Court announced Wednesday that it had issued a guilty verdict and sentenced Yamagami to life in prison, as prosecutors requested.
Takashi Fujimoto, one of the defence lawyers, said the decision did not take into consideration their request for clemency based on the defendant’s difficult upbringing and was “regrettable.” He added that Yamagami’s legal team would consider an appeal after consulting with their client.
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 goal was to hurt the church, which he hated, and expose its ties with Abe, investigators have said.
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