Tetsuya Yamagami, tried for the murder of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022, was found guilty today and sentenced to life in prison, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
Abe's murder caused shock around the world.
Yamagami, now 45, was charged with the murder of the former prime minister, who resigned from office two years earlier, at an election rally on July 8, 2022, in the city of Nara, near Kyoto. The man was arrested at the scene of the crime after firing a homemade weapon at Abe during his speech at the election rally.
At the beginning of the case in October last year, Yamagami pleaded guilty. The prosecutor requested a life sentence, describing the crime as unprecedented in the country's postwar history. He also cited the extremely serious consequences of the act on society.
In Japan, a life sentence carries the possibility of parole, although many of those convicted die in prison, experts say.
Crimes involving firearms are extremely rare in the country and the assassination of Shinzo Abe caused severe trauma.
The fact that the perpetrator was angry with Abe for his alleged links to the Unification Church, known as the "Moon sect", has prompted scrutiny of the practices of this religious organization, accused of exerting financial pressure on its followers, as well as its ties to Japanese political circles.