Judge Shinichi Tanaka handed down the sentence against Tetsuya Yamagami on Wednesday at a court in the city of Nara.
Yamagami, 45, had admitted to fatally shooting Abe in 2022 in a crime that convulsed Japan, where gun violence is extremely rare.
In Japan, a sentence of life imprisonment leaves open the possibility of parole, though experts say that many of those who receive the penalty die while incarcerated, according to Al Jazeera.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Yamagami, calling the murder “unprecedented in our post-war history” and citing the “extremely serious consequences” it had on society.
At the opening of Yamagami’s trial in October, prosecutors argued that the accused had been motivated to kill Abe by a desire tarnish the image of the Unification Church.
Yamagami “thought if he killed someone as influential as former prime minister Abe, he could draw public attention to the Church and fuel public criticism of it,” a prosecutor said.
Yamagami’s lawyers had argued for a maximum punishment of 20 years imprisonment, citing hardship suffered by his family after his mother donated her life savings to the church.
Founded in South Korea in 1954, the Unification Church is famous for its mass weddings and counts Japanese followers as a key source of income.
MNA
Your Comment