TOKYO - The gunman charged with killing Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe was found guilty Wednesday and jailed for life, more than three years after the broad-daylight assassination shocked the world.
The shooting 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.
As he handed down the sentence at a court in the city of Nara, judge Shinichi Tanaka said Tetsuya Yamagami had been "determined" to shoot Abe.
The fact he "shot him from behind and did so when (Abe) was least expecting it" points to the "despicable and extremely malicious" nature of his act, he said.
A queue of people waited Wednesday morning for tickets to enter the courtroom, highlighting intense public interest in the trial.
Yamagami faced charges including murder and firearms control law violations for using a handmade gun to kill Japan's longest-serving leader during his campaign speech in July 2022.
As the trial opened in October, Yamagami admitted to murder. He contested some of the other charges, media reports said.
Under Japan's legal system, a trial continues even if a defendant admits guilt.
Judge Tanaka said Abe's death had had "serious consequences", adding that his widow "still suffers from a significant sense of grief".
In a plea for leniency, Yamagami's defence team stressed his upbringing had been mired in "religious abuse" stemming from his mother's extreme faith in the Unification Church.