Berliner Tageblatt - Gunman pleads guilty to Japan ex-PM's murder

The slaying 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.

"Everything is true," Tetsuya Yamagami said at a court in the western city of Nara, admitting murder of the country's longest-serving leader in July 2022.

The 45-year-old was led into the room by four security officials.

When the judge asked him to state his name, Yamagami, who was wearing a black T-shirt and had his long hair tied at the back, replied in a barely audible voice.

However, his lawyer said they would contest certain charges including violations of arms control laws for allegedly using a handmade weapon.

Yamagami's trial had been a long time coming after the discovery of a suspicious item -- later found to be harmless -- caused its last-minute cancellation and the evacuation of the Nara court building in 2023.

One issue central to the case was whether extenuating circumstances applied due to "religious abuse" in Yamagami's childhood stemming from his mother's extreme devotion to the Unification Church, according to local media reports.

Yamagami reportedly resented Abe for his perceived ties to the Church, which was established in South Korea in 1954 and whose members are nicknamed "Moonies" after its founder Sun Myung Moon.

The Church has been accused of fomenting child neglect among its members and financially exploiting them, claims it denies.

Yamagami was said to have held a grudge against the Church for bankrupting his family after his mother donated around 100 million yen ($1 million at the time) as proof of her faith.

Investigations after Abe's murder led to cascading revelations about close ties between the Church and many conservative lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, prompting four ministers to resign.

Earlier this year, the Tokyo District Court issued a dissolution order for the Church's Japanese arm, saying it caused "unprecedented damage" to society.

The assassination was also a wake-up call for a nation with some of the world's strictest gun controls.

Gun violence is so rare in Japan that security officials at the scene failed to immediately identify the sound made by the first shot, and came to Abe's rescue too late, a police report after the attack said.

The debacle prompted lawmakers to pass a bill in 2024 further strengthening arms controls to prevent people from making homemade guns.

Under the new rules, uploading tutorial videos on making firearms and propagating information about gun sales on social media can result in a fine or imprisonment of under one year.

M.Odermatt--BTB