Latest news with #TetsuyaYamagami
The Mainichi
30-07-2025
- Business
- The Mainichi
Court OKs provisional seizure of Unification Church's Tokyo HQ land
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A Japanese court has approved the provisional seizure of the Unification Church headquarters' land in Tokyo as sought by alleged victims of the entity's aggressive donation solicitation practices, a lawyers' group said Wednesday. The 10 people, who are negotiating damages payment by the Unification Church in a separate procedure, filed for the land seizure in June, fearing the church could hide its assets to evade payouts, the group said. In the decision dated July 18, the Tokyo District Court gave the green light to the seizure, based on a new law enacted in December 2023 to strengthen monitoring of religious corporation assets that could be subject to legal claims. The law was crafted amid concerns that the Unification Church, which may lose religious corporation status and related tax benefits, could attempt to transfer compensation-liable assets overseas. The Unification Church was designated as a religious corporation covered by the law in March 2024. With the seizure, the church can continue its activities at the headquarters' building but cannot sell or donate the land. While an application for provisional seizure requires collateral, the Japan Legal Support Center, a public organization, provided the financial support based on the law, the group said. The law strengthens surveillance of a group under the threat of losing its religious corporation status, such as by requiring the entity to give central or prefectural government authorities at least one month's notice of any plan to dispose of assets. If a notification is not given, the organization is prohibited from any further liquidation. The Tokyo District Court in March ordered that the Unification Church be stripped of its religious corporation status, as sought by the Japanese government. But the legal proceedings continue, as the religious group has appealed to a high court. Such a dissolution order, if finalized, would deprive the group, formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, of tax benefits as a religious corporation, although it would still be able to continue its activities in Japan. Following the finalization of the order, a liquidator will dispose of the Unification Church's assets, enabling victims who are recognized as creditors to receive compensation. Its practices came to the public eye after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022 by a man claiming to hold a grudge against the organization because of financially ruinous donations taken from his mother. Tetsuya Yamagami, who has been indicted over the shooting, told investigators that he targeted Abe over the role of the politician's grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, in helping establish the Unification Church in Japan in the 1960s. It was founded in South Korea by a staunch anti-communist in 1954.
Japan Times
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
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
Japan Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Trial of suspect in murder of ex-PM Abe set to begin in October
The trial of the man accused of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to begin on Oct. 28, local media reported Friday. Tetsuya Yamagami, now in pretrial detention, is accused of shooting Abe in broad daylight in Nara while he was on the campaign trail in July 2022, an incident that shocked the world. The trial was postponed in 2023 after a suspicious item was delivered to a court in Nara, which led to the evacuation of the building. The item was later found to have been not dangerous. Yamagami, 44, is believed to have targeted Abe over his ties to the Unification Church, which he held a grudge against over large donations that his mother made to the group, which bankrupted his family. The group is part of an international movement whose members are sometimes referred to as "Moonies." Yamagami is charged with murder and violations of arms control laws. Public broadcaster NHK and other local media outlets reported the date for Yamagami's first hearing as Oct. 28, citing the Nara District Court. Yamagami does not intend to contest the murder charge leveled against him, the Asahi Shimbun reported. The daily reported that an issue of contention would be whether his use of a handmade gun constituted the crime of discharging a firearm, and if his issues with the Unification Church meant that there were extenuating circumstances. In March, the Tokyo District Court issued a dissolution order for the Japanese chapter of the Unification Church, saying it had caused "unprecedented damage" to society.
