Overview
- The Nara District Court, presided over by Judge Shinichi Tanaka, imposed a life sentence on Tetsuya Yamagami in line with prosecutors’ request after they declined to seek the death penalty.
- Yamagami, 45, pleaded guilty and said he targeted Abe because he believed the former leader had ties to the Unification Church, which he blames for bankrupting his family through his mother’s donations.
- Abe was shot on July 8, 2022 during an outdoor campaign speech in Nara with a homemade, multi-barrel firearm, and Yamagami was arrested at the scene.
- The assassination intensified scrutiny of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s contacts with the church and spurred government action to strip its tax benefits.
- A Tokyo court ordered the church’s dissolution in March last year, a decision now under appeal, as authorities also strengthened security at political events and advanced rules curbing abusive fundraising by religious groups.