A Japanese court will on Wednesday deliver its verdict on a man accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, three and a half years after the assassination of the country’s longest-serving premier stunned the nation.
Tetsuya Yamagami, now 45, was arrested on the spot in July 2022 after fatally firing at Abe with a homemade gun while the former prime minister was delivering a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. Abe was 67.
Although he was no longer Japan’s leader at the time, Abe remained a powerful and binding force within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. His absence has left a vacuum within the party, which has since seen two leadership races and by extension, a revolving door of prime ministers.
Abe himself served as prime minister for a total of 3,188 days over two separate terms, stepping down in September 2020 citing health reasons.
Japan court to rule in trial of man charged with killing ex-PM Abe
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