Japan’s Ex-PM Assassination: Court Hands Down Final Sentence to Tetsuya Yamagami

The trial regarding the death of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has concluded, with Tetsuya Yamagami sentenced to life in prison, BBC reports. Although the perpetrator fully pleaded guilty, the case has sparked significant debate within Japanese society.

Yamagami’s defense attorneys sought to portray him as a victim of "religious abuse." His mother’s devotion to the Unification Church was so extreme that she donated the family’s funds, totaling 100 million yen (approximately $828,000), to the organization, leading the household to bankruptcy. Yamagami decided to seek revenge against the former Prime Minister, believing he had ties to the controversial organization. In court, he even testified that his initial targets were church executives, but he later changed his mind.

The assassination exposed clandestine links between the Japanese government and the church, prompting the resignation of several cabinet ministers and a re-evaluation of the religious organization’s status. During her court statement, Shinzo Abe’s widow, Akie Abe, expressed that the grief of losing her husband would never fade, saying through tears:

"I just wanted him to stay alive."

According to experts, while public sympathy for Yamagami does not justify his crime, it highlights the high level of resentment toward controversial religious organizations in the country. Nevertheless, the court upheld the prosecutors' arguments and handed down the maximum penalty to the man who took the life of the former leader.