Gunman jailed for life for assass!nation of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

The man who fatally shot former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, with the judge condemning the daylight assassination as “despicable and extremely malicious”. The verdict, delivered Wednesday at the Nara District Court, comes more than three years after the killing shocked a nation largely unaccustomed to gun violence and prompted scrutiny of the Unification Church’s ties to prominent conservative politicians.

Judge Shinichi Tanaka said 45-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami had been “determined” to kill Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, describing how he “shot him from behind and did so when (Abe) was least expecting it”, which pointed to the “despicable and extremely malicious” character of the act. Yamagami used a handmade firearm to shoot Abe during a campaign speech in July 2022.

Public interest in the trial remained intense, with people queueing on Wednesday morning for courtroom tickets. Yamagami appeared subdued and showed little emotion as he was sentenced for murder and firearms violations. His defence team, which acknowledged his guilt when proceedings opened in October, said it had not yet decided whether to appeal, a step that must be taken within two weeks under Japanese law.

Prosecutors argued that Yamagami’s motive was driven by a desire to tarnish the Unification Church. The trial examined how his mother’s extensive donations to the church, totalling around 100 million yen, bankrupted the family and shaped his conviction that “influential politicians” were helping the sect flourish. Abe had spoken at events hosted by groups linked to the church.

Judge Tanaka said “it is undeniable that the defendant’s upbringing influenced the formation of his personality and his mindset… and that it even played a distant role” in the assassination. But he added that “each criminal action he took was based on nothing but his own decision-making, the process of which deserves strong condemnation”.

Members of the public who observed the verdict echoed the judge’s reasoning. Katsuya Nakatani, 60, said that “even if there was room for extenuating circumstances… opening fire with so many people around is, after all, something that cannot be forgiven”. Another man outside the court held a banner urging the judge to take Yamagami’s difficult life into account.

During opening arguments, prosecutors told the court that Yamagami “thought if he killed someone as influential as former prime minister Abe, he could draw public attention to the Church and fuel public criticism of it”. Yamagami’s lawyers countered by describing an upbringing marred by “religious abuse”, citing his mother’s extreme devotion, the family’s financial collapse, the suicide of his father, his aborted higher education and his brother’s later suicide. His despair culminated in a suicide attempt in 2005.

Revelations after the assassination exposed longstanding connections between the Unification Church, founded in South Korea in 1954 and whose followers are often called “Moonies”,  and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, prompting resignations from four ministers.

Prosecutors said Yamagami began constructing a firearm in 2020, test-firing it in remote areas, underscoring the “premeditated” nature of the attack. The killing also served as a reckoning for Japan, where strict gun control laws make shootings exceedingly rare. Police later acknowledged security lapses, noting that some officials did not recognise the first gunshot and reacted too slowly.

Calling the killing “unprecedented in our post-war history,” prosecutors sought life imprisonment, citing its “extremely serious consequences” for society. Under Japan’s system, a life sentence technically allows for parole, though experts say most inmates serve the remainder of their lives behind bars.