CrimeCase focused attention on ties between politicians and Unification ChurchPeople lay flowers at a memorial stand set up near the scene where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead in July 2022, in Nara, Japan on July 8, 2023. (Photo by Yo Inoue)JUN KIMIYA, RYOTA MORIGA and RYOMA KASHIWAGIJanuary 21, 2026 13:34 JSTUpdated on January 21, 2026 16:49 JSTNARA, Japan -- A Japanese district court sentenced the man charged with the 2022 murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to life in prison on Wednesday.