Japan Court Jails Abe Assassin For Life Over Shocking 2022 Killing

A Japanese court on Wednesday sentenced Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, to life imprisonment for the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a brazen daylight attack that stunned Japan and sent shockwaves across the world.

The Nara District Court found Yamagami guilty of fatally shooting Abe in July 2022 while the former leader was delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was 67 years old at the time of his death.

Yamagami was arrested at the scene after firing a homemade firearm into the crowd, killing Abe instantly. He admitted to the killing during the opening session of his trial in October, making a conviction inevitable and shifting attention to the severity of his punishment.

Delivering judgment, Judge Shinichi Tanaka described the assassination as “despicable,” stressing that the use of a gun in a crowded public space constituted an “extremely dangerous and malicious crime,” according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, describing the killing as an “extremely grave incident unprecedented in post-war Japan.” The defence, however, pleaded for a reduced sentence of no more than 20 years, citing family grievances linked to the Unification Church, which Yamagami claimed motivated his actions.

Although Abe was no longer prime minister at the time of his death, he remained a dominant political force within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). His assassination created a power vacuum that has since contributed to two leadership contests and ongoing political instability within the party.

Abe served a combined 3,188 days as prime minister across two terms, resigning in September 2020 due to health concerns. While his protégé now leads Japan, the LDP’s once-firm grip on power has weakened significantly in the years following Abe’s death.