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© KYODOProsecutors closer to murder indictment 6 months after Abe shooting
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Moonraker
This should be interesting. He only killed one person and that, by convention, usually does not incur the death penalty. But he rocked the boat and exposed the unseemly core of Japanese politics for a moment and that is usually considered a serious crime for a member of the public to commit.
William Bjornson
So, it took six months for the prosecutors to decide that Mr. Yamagami was 'sane' in his decision, premeditation, and subsequent action in holding Mr Abe in singular responsibility for Mr. Yamagami's reportedly distressful life. How, EXACTLY, does the legal system judge 'sane behavior'? Shouldn't the behavior itself be prima facie evidence of the mental state of the individual at that moment? I seriously doubt that Mr. Yamagami had deep meditative reflections on either right OR wrong after he went over the edge and, given his choice, must have seen it as the 'right' thing to do, an opinion so opposed to the usual public hypocrisy that it could be a definition of 'insanity'. And, of course, knowing the 'difference between right and wrong' does not help the disturbed mind to judge which is which. Here, the Sanctity of the Government has been violated and it wouldn't matter if Mr. Yamagami were a gibbering idiot, public punishment MUST be meted and the perpetrator drawn and quartered. I wonder how many months of these stories we will now have...
obladi
My guess is that he gets life imprisonment, maybe writes a bestseller in his later years.
sakurasuki
6 months isn't that too obvious?
Mark
We are all victims of this Cult including Mr. Abe & Mr. Yamagami.
It's the Colt that needs to be Indicted, NOT the Victims.
dagon
Kishida following exactly the same pattern with his progeny.
That is how representative democracy works right?
dbsaiya
And what of Abe's security detail? If they were doing their job correctly, Abe should have been tackled and shielded after the first shot, then this wouldn't have been a murder charge but an attempted murder charge. Cops and prosecuters are going to do everything they can to deflect from this action or the motive behind the shooting.
jeancolmar
There cannot be any excuse for murder under any circumstances. This said, the alleged murderer has important information for us. If found guilty, he should not be executed but sentenced to life in prison. To silence this person would be a welcomed relief to the Unification Church. And that should not happen.
Stephen Chin
Yamagami has been proved to be not crazy when he murdered Abe. His bringing the Unification Church into the story is just a ploy to confuse the mind of prosecution authorities.
Hercolobus
Violence begets violence, and he will learn that soon. Abe was a popular figure I was fond of listening to.
Hiro
The court should be lenient and take into account of the man sufferings. Let's pray for a lighter sentence.
serendipitous1
Sad that these members of dodgy religious groups get duped into donating large sums for so-called spiritual enlightenment. But, then again, are they so different from the big church groups of the world? They all need money to survive and most of it comes from their followers who are convinced by others that giving their money away will somehow help them before or after they're dead and gone. Sad all around. Better off donating to a recognized charity as at least some of the money will go to a good cause. Kishi would never have imagined his grandson would be killed because of a dodgy, anti-Communist, Korean church group that the US told Kishi he should support.
Fredrik
So we do know that he would do ANYTHING for money, and other assumably did know this a well. It will be very interesting to see what will happen to this person. If how goes free, that will answer a lot of questions regarding this assassination.
Yotomaya
Abe was directly profiting from the club. He was as much a victim of it as Mussolini was a WW2 casualty.
Yotomaya
*cult, although "club" seems fitting as well.
Alan Harrison
Following an examination to determine his mental fitness to stand trial, the prosecutors have apparently judged that Yamagami, 42, is competent to be tried and are likely to indict him .......
I would have thought that doctors would decide his mental state of mind, and present there findings to a judge, not to prosecutor's.
TokyoLiving
Too slow, Gallows ASAP..
rainyday
The more I read about this guy, the more I sympathize with him.
Its kind of interesting the way, after several months of reflection, the public perception of the assassination has shifted. Right after it occurred everyone was in shock and felt so bad for Abe, all anyone could say was nice things about him. With everything that has come out since though, if they ran a poll to test public sentiment I think Yamagami would come out way ahead of Abe.
japancat
There is no excuse for murdering someone and he ( Yamagami ) should be punished, That said,
The guy saved Japan from the clutches of a evil foreign cult, and I think that should be taken into consideration.
GTRyan
I don't think Japan is "saved" from the clutches of the evil cult yet. The Unification Church will still get their money for votes somehow. Yamagami should be given a lenient sentence I think considering the blood on the hands of these idiot politicians courting the moonies cult.