Overview
- Testifying as a defense witness, she apologized in court and identified her faith as the World Peace and Unification Family Federation.
- She said she joined the church in 1991 and continues to believe, a timeline the defense cites to argue her son’s upbringing was shaped by the group.
- The defense disclosed roughly ¥100 million in donations to the church, including money from life insurance, and said she went bankrupt.
- Prosecutors maintain the defendant’s family circumstances should not mitigate culpability, while the defense argues the upbringing amounted to child abuse that should weigh on sentencing.
- Both sides agree the defendant abandoned an attack on the church’s top leader and targeted Shinzo Abe over perceived church ties, and the court used shielding as the defense noted this was the first face-to-face with his mother since the incident due to his refusal to meet her.