Japan in mourning after the assassination of Shinzo Abe

First modification: 07/09/2022 – 10:45

Japan wept this Saturday for the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, assassinated the day before during a rally in the west of the country, and whose remains were transferred to Tokyo. The assassination of Japan’s best-known politician shocked the country and reverberated around the world, given low crime levels and the strict laws against weapons in the archipelago. Japan is one of the ten nations in the world with the fewest weapons in the hands of civilians, 0.3 per 100 people, due to a strict law on acquisition

During the night, leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) went to Abe’s residence in mourning to pay their respects in images broadcast by the country’s televisions.

Japanese media reported that on Monday night there would be a candlelight and on Tuesday a funeral with only those closest to Abe.

The assassination has also altered the campaign for parliamentary elections this Sunday, in which 125 of the 248 seats that make up the Upper House will be elected. The electoral acts, in which Abe participated to promote the candidates of his party, were suspended

Police are investigating the suspect’s background.

The man accused of shooting Abe He is in custody and, according to the police, confessed to the crime and explained that he committed it thinking that Abe was linked to an unidentified group.. Several local media speak of a religious group.

police investigate the background of this 41-year-old unemployed man, including versions that he joined the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Japanese navy, and indicated that he would have used a homemade weapon. He was identified as Tetsuya Yamagami and police said on Friday that he admitted attacking Abe over his rejection of an organization he believed the former ruler belonged to.

The name of the organization was not revealed, although several Japanese media pointed out that it is a religious group.

The weapon used is “clearly handcrafted in appearance”, investigators said, and other homemade weapons appear to have been found in a Friday raid of Yamagami’s home. Footage from the NHK public network showed Yamagami, dressed in a gray shirt and brown pants, coming up behind Abe before pulling the gun out of a bag.

He apparently fired twice, each of which produced a cloud of smoke. Spectators and journalists crouched down, while security rammed him and threw him to the ground.

The authorities pointed out that there were no threats against Abewho was campaigning for his Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) when he was attacked.

chain reactions

The current Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, he called the murder a “barbaric act” and “unforgivable”. Abe was making a campaign speech ahead of Sunday’s elections for the upper house of Parliament when he was attacked. Doctors at Nara University Hospital said on Friday that Abe suffered neck injuries and internal damage reached as far as his heart. .

For his part, the US President Joe Biden he indicated that he was “shocked, outraged and deeply saddened”, and ordered that flags on government buildings be flown at half-staff.

Yoon Suk-yeol, The president of South Korea, a country with which Abe has had friction, called the assassination an “unacceptable act”, while the Chinese embassy in Japan praised Abe for his “contribution to improving and developing” relations.

With AFP, Reuters and Japanese media