Ex-PM Abe's Killer Gets Indefinite Term

Nara, Jan. 21 (Jiji Press)--The man who killed former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was given an indefinite prison term on Wednesday for the fatal shooting with a homemade gun in the western Japan city of Nara in 2022.

Nara District Court handed down the sentence to Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, as sought by public prosecutors.

Abe was shot dead in the city on July 8, 2022, while delivering a stump speech ahead of a House of Councillors election.

As Yamagami had admitted to the murder charge, the severity of the sentence was the main point of contention.

Presiding Judge Shinichi Tanaka described the crime as "despicable and extremely malicious," adding that the defendant's background could not be said to have had "a great impact on his decision to commit murder."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]