NARA, Japan, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The gunman charged with killing Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe faces a verdict Wednesday, more than three years after the broad-daylight assassination shocked the world. The slaying forced a reckoning in a country with little experience of gun violence, and ignited scrutiny of alleged ties between prominent conservative lawmakers and a secretive sect, the Unification Church. At the trial opening, prosecutors argued that the defendant's motive to kill Abe was rooted in his desire to besmirch the Unification Church. The Unification Church was established in South Korea in 1954, with its members nicknamed "Moonies" after its founder Sun Myung Moon. In a plea for leniency, his defence team stressed his upbringing had been mired in "religious abuse" stemming from his mother's extreme faith in the Unification Church.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha January 21, 2026 03:47 UTC