(13 Jan 2023)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tokyo, Japan - 13 January 2023
1. Various of Shimbashi Station
2. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yoshihiro Morishima, 72-year-old from Yokohama:
“I think it’s (the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe) a big loss for Japan. With international and domestic problems, there are few politicians who have a solid view of the country like former Prime Minister Abe. Even though there are various circumstances (that the suspect said), it is a little unforgivable to kill one of the politicians who had such views of the nation. So it's only natural that he is indicted.”
3. Mid of people
4. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yoshihiro Morishima, 72-year-old from Yokohama:
“Taking these circumstances, my feeling is that it would be good if it (the Unification Church) would disappear. Although it would be convenient for the criminal, but I think it would be good.”
5. Various of people
6. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Kazuo Kobayashi, 64 year-old from Chiba:
“Of course, the general public cannot accept that (he killed Abe), and bad things are bad, right? That is something that should never be done. I think it would be better to make a clear black-and-white judgement by law.”
7. Various of people around Shimbashi Station
STORYLINE:
Japanese prosecutors formally charged the suspect in the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with murder, sending him to stand trial, a court said Friday.
Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested July 8, 2022, immediately after Abe was shot with a homemade gun during a campaign speech in July outside a train station in Nara in western Japan. Abe died later that day.
Yamagami then underwent a nearly six-month mental evaluation, which prosecutors said showed he is fit to stand trial.
He was also charged with violating a gun control law, according to the Nara District Court.
Police have said Yamagami told them that he killed Abe, one of Japan’s most influential and divisive politicians, because of Abe’s apparent links to a religious group that he hated.
In his statements and in social media postings attributed to him, Yamagami said he developed a grudge because his mother had made massive donations to the Unification Church that bankrupted his family and ruined his life.
One of his lawyers, Masaaki Furukawa, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Yamagami will have to take responsibility for the serious consequences of his alleged actions and that his defense lawyers will do their best to reduce his sentence.
Japanese law allows capital punishment for murder, but experts say the death penalty usually is handed down for multiple killings. Yamagami could get life in prison if convicted.
No date is set for his trial, which is expected to have a panel of civil jurors in addition to the usual bench judges — as in murder cases and other serious criminal trials in Japan. Due to the complexity of the case, it would take months before his trial begins, Furukawa said.
Police are also reportedly considering adding several allegations, including producing weapons, violating explosives control law and causing damage to buildings.
Yoshihiro Morishima, a 72-year-old from Yokohama said Friday that what Yamagami is accused of is ‘unforgivable’.
Kazuo Kobayashi, 64-year-old from Chiba says he hopes that the truth would come out and be made clear by the law.
Some Japanese have expressed sympathy for Yamagami, especially those who also suffered as children of followers of the South Korea-based Unification Church, which is known for pressuring adherents into making big donations and is considered a cult in Japan.
AP video by Haruka Nuga
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