NARA, Japan: The gunman charged with killing Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe was found guilty and jailed for life Wednesday, more than three years after the broad-daylight assassination shocked the world.
The shooting forced a reckoning in a country with little experience of gun violence, and ignited scrutiny of alleged ties between prominent conservative lawmakers and a secretive sect, the Unification Church.
Judge Shinichi Tanaka handed down the sentence at a court in the city of Nara.
A queue of people waited Wednesday morning to get tickets to enter the courtroom, highlighting intense public interest in the trial.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, faced charges including murder and firearms control law violations for using a handmade gun to kill Japan’s longest-serving leader during his campaign speech in July 2022.
