08-07-2025
Three years after Abe's shooting, where do things stand?
It's been three years since the shocking assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — and yet, the trial of the 44-year-old man accused of the crime still hasn't begun.
Tetsuya Yamagami is charged with fatally shooting Abe in broad daylight in Nara while he was giving a stump speech for an Upper House election candidate on July 8, 2022.
He believed that the former prime minister had strong ties with the Unification Church — a controversial religious group — that allegedly caused financial ruin for him and his family.
The shooting led to several developments: the Unification Church is now on the brink of having its special tax-exempt status revoked; stricter legislation to compensate victims of coercive donation tactics by religious groups is in place; and the police have beefed up measures to prevent lone-wolf attacks.
But one thing proceeding at a snail's pace is the criminal procedure against Yamagami, due to the sensitivity, complexity and social impact of the case.
The trial
The first day of Yamagami's trial is set for Oct. 28, with prospects for a ruling to be handed down early next year.
Judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers have spent more than two years in pretrial hearings discussing how the Unification Church, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, affected Yamagami's upbringing and how it should be handled in court.
Yamagami allegedly shot Abe because his family went bankrupt after his mother, a church follower, donated more than ¥100 million ($684,700) to the group. He reportedly targeted Abe because he believed the prime minister had firm links to the church.
Defense lawyers hope his upbringing will be the focus of the trial and will try to illustrate the extenuating circumstances he was in to seek leniency. Prosecutors, meanwhile, want the trial to focus on the shooting and the immediate events leading up to it.
Prosecutors have determined that Yamagami could be held criminally liable for his actions after he underwent a psychiatric evaluation.
Yamagami's mother has repeatedly visited his detention center in Osaka Prefecture but hasn't been able to meet him, the Asahi Shimbun reported Tuesday.
The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, a 44-year-old man accused of shooting Abe, is set to begin on Oct. 28. |
Jiji
Due to the high-profile nature of the case, security is another issue authorities are facing.
After a package addressed to Yamagami was delivered to the Nara District Court on the day of his first pretrial session, court officials canceled the hearing due to suspicions that it might have contained an explosive. They found out out later that it was a box of documents.
No other trials will be scheduled on the same day as Yamagami's for security reasons, according to sources.
The religious group
The Unification Church remains under intense scrutiny over its longstanding tactics of coercing followers to offer donations, although the group claims it no longer resorts to such measures.
In March, the Tokyo District Court stripped the church of its religious corporation status, saying that 'the order was necessary and inevitable' even if the right to freedom of religion is considered.
The move is expected to not only damage the Unification Church's credibility as a religious group but also its finances, as it would need to dispose of its assets and won't be exempt from taxes. It will, however, be allowed to continue its activities. The church has appealed the case, and it is currently being deliberated at the Tokyo High Court.
If the high court upholds the lower court's decision, the ruling will take effect immediately.
However, it recently came to light that in 2009, the church designated another affiliated religious group in Obihiro, Hokkaido, to receive the group's assets if its religious status is ever revoked, which may mitigate any financial damage the church might suffer.
Tighter security
Since Abe's assassination, the National Police Agency has increased security measures for political figures and taken steps to monitor potential lone-wolf attackers.
One year after Abe's shooting, in April 2023, a man threw a pipe bomb at then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while he was stumping at a fishing port in the city of Wakayama for a by-election. Kishida was evacuated to safety and was unhurt, while the suspect, Ryuji Kimura, was subdued. Kimura was sentenced to 10 years in prison in February for attempted murder.
'We'll be conducting baggage inspections and installing metal detectors in cooperation with event operators during the Upper House election campaign period for VIPs,' said Manabu Sakai, chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, during a news conference last Thursday.
The NPA has set up a task force ahead of the July 20 Upper House election to monitor and gather information on lone wolves, he said.
Information from Jiji added
