Man sentenced to life for killing Shinzo Abe

A man, Tetsuya Yamagami, has been sentenced to life in prison for the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was killed on July 8, 2022, during a campaign rally in Nara. Yamagami used a homemade weapon and cited grievances against the Unification Church, which he blamed for his family’s financial ruin. The trial highlighted the unprecedented nature of this assassination in post-war Japan and the involvement of several lawmakers with the controversial church. Following Abe’s death, a Tokyo court ordered the church to disband, which it has vowed to contest.

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