Tetsuya Yamagami receives life sentence for the 2022 murder of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, a killing the judge condemned as a premeditated and malicious act.
NARA: The gunman who assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday.
Judge Shinichi Tanaka condemned the 2022 shooting as a “despicable and extremely malicious” act during sentencing at the Nara District Court.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, was found guilty of murder and firearms violations for killing Japan’s longest-serving leader.
He used a handmade gun to shoot Abe from behind during a campaign speech in July 2022.
The judge stated Yamagami was “determined” to carry out the attack when Abe was “least expecting it”.
He acknowledged the defendant’s difficult upbringing played a distant role in his actions but said the crime was based on his own decision-making.
Prosecutors argued Yamagami’s motive was to besmirch the Unification Church, which he blamed for his family’s ruin.
His mother’s massive donations to the church, totalling around 100 million yen, plunged the family into bankruptcy.
Yamagami believed killing a figure as influential as Abe would draw public attention to the church’s activities.
The months-long trial revealed how his mother’s extreme faith, described by the defence as “religious abuse”, devastated the family.
Yamagami was forced to abandon higher education, and his brother died by suicide.
Prosecutors sought a life term, calling the murder “unprecedented in our post-war history” with “extremely serious consequences” for society.
The assassination forced a national reckoning on gun violence and exposed deep ties between conservative lawmakers and the Unification Church.
Investigations after the killing led to the resignation of four government ministers.
A police report found security officials failed to immediately identify the gunshot, coming to Abe’s aid too late.
Yamagami showed little emotion as the sentence was handed down. His defence team has not yet decided on an appeal.
