The gunman who killed former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe appeals his life sentence, with his lawyer calling the lower court ruling unjust
TOKYO: The gunman convicted of assassinating former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has appealed his life sentence.
Tetsuya Yamagami’s court-appointed lawyer, Masaaki Furukawa, confirmed he filed the appeal motion, calling it “an opportunity to correct the unjust lower-court ruling”.
Yamagami, 45, was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison two weeks ago by the Nara District Court.
He used a homemade gun to kill Abe during an outdoor campaign event in 2022.
Furukawa declined to specify if Yamagami was seeking to overturn the guilty verdict or merely reduce his sentence.
The appeal will now move the case to the Osaka High Court in western Japan.
The shooting forced a national reckoning in a country with little experience of gun violence.
It also ignited scrutiny of alleged ties between conservative lawmakers and the secretive Unification Church.
Yamagami’s defence argued the attack was triggered by his mother’s ruinous donations to the Church, which pushed his family into bankruptcy.
Abe had spoken at events organised by groups affiliated with the sect, which had supported his Liberal Democratic Party in elections.
