NIGERIAN MILITARY JET CRASHES IN NIGER. (PHOTO).
The man accused of assassinating former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pleaded guilty on Tuesday.
Tetsuo Yamagami, 45, appeared publicly for the first time since the killing and told Judge Shinichi Tanaka that he shot Abe because he held him responsible for the religious abuse he endured as a child. “Everything is true,” Yamagami said in court, adding, “there is no mistake that I did it.”
His attorneys have requested leniency, citing his troubled upbringing and the influence of his mother, a follower of the Unification Church, who is set to testify in the trial. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister since World War II, was allegedly targeted due to his perceived ties to the church, which was partly introduced to Japan by Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuki Kishi, in 1954.
Yamagami reportedly used a homemade firearm to shoot Abe on July 8, 2022, while Abe was giving a campaign speech for a colleague during Japan’s Upper House election. Prosecutors said Yamagami had made six guns at home beginning in late 2020, producing around two kilograms of black powder and test-firing the weapons at multiple locations.
While his defense argues his childhood and personal history warrant a reduced sentence, prosecutors maintain that the assassination was an unprecedented act in post-war Japan and that leniency is not justified.
Comments
Post a Comment