The assassin of Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has been sentenced to life in prison. Tetsuya Yamagami, a 45-year-old man, had already admitted to killing the former Japanese Prime Minister, but his lawyer had sought a shorter sentence.Yamagami was found guilty by a district court in the western city of Nara in October on various charges, including murder and violating gun control laws. Under Japan’s legal system, the trial continued despite his admission. The conviction has brought an end to a four-year-old case that stood shocking for the entire of Japan.At sentencing, presiding judge Shinichi Tanaka called the attack “despicable and extremely malicious,” noting that Yamagami shot Abe “from behind and…when (Abe) was least expecting it.” The judge also cited the “serious consequences” of Abe’s death and said his widow “still suffers from a significant sense of grief.”Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment, describing the murder as “unprecedented in our post-war history.” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in July 2022 during a campaign speech. The shooting triggered widespread scrutiny of alleged links between prominent conservative lawmakers and the Unification Church, a secretive religious group also known as the “Moonies”. Yamagami’s defense described years of “religious abuse” linked to his mother’s extreme devotion to the Unification Church. After the suicide of her husband and the illness of another son, she reportedly donated around 100 million yen to the Church, leading the family into bankruptcy. Several ruling Liberal Democratic Party ministers resigned amid revelations of ties to the sect.The incident prompted a reckoning in Japan over religious influence on politics and the adequacy of security measures. Gun violence is so rare that security personnel initially failed to recognize the first shot, according to a subsequent police report.Japan’s life sentences allow for parole, though many inmates die in custody.
