Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died this Friday after being shot in an attack perpetrated during an electoral act in Nara. (western Japan), as reported today by the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), to which he belonged.
Abe, 67, was the victim of several shots while offering a speech on the street today before the parliamentary elections held this Sunday in Japan, and his party reported his death, after previously announcing the health services that he was in cardiorespiratory arrest.
The former president was transferred by ambulance and later by helicopter after the incident and the health services are treating him, according to the police.
“Whatever the reason, a barbaric act like this cannot be tolerated and we strongly condemn it,” Japanese government chief of staff Hirokazu Matsuno said. It was a shocking development for a country with a low level of criminal violence and harsh laws against the possession of weapons.
The public network NHK reported that a man in his 40s was arrested for attempted murder and that a weapon was confiscated, citing police sources. The news was later confirmed by the Japanese government.
Abe was making a campaign speech at an event ahead of elections for the upper legislative house on Sunday when shots were heard, NHK and the Kyodo news agency said.
“I was giving a speech and a man came from behind,” a young woman who was at the event told the NHK network.
The incident occurred around 11:30 am local time this Friday and in the presence of numerous citizens who were attending the campaign event or were walking near the Yamato-Saidaiji station.
“The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn’t fall but then there was a loud bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the bang and the smoke,” he added.
Abe, 67, collapsed and was bleeding from the neck, a source from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) told the Jiji agency. Various media reported that the former leader had been attacked from behind, possibly with a shotgun. The government announced the creation of a working group after the incident.
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, ruled the country in 2006 for a year, then returned to power between 2012 and 2020.
Who is Shinzo Abe?
Abe is one of the most prominent Japanese politicians in recent decades in that country. In 2020, he announced his resignation after presenting ill health. His management was the longest in the modern politics of the Asian nation.
Abe holds the record for having been in power for around 2,800 days.
Graduated in Political Science in 1977 from Tokyo Seikei University, Abe completed his studies at the University of Southern California (USC) before joining the workforce in 1979 at Kobe Steel.
Three years later he began to get involved in political affairs as an adviser to his father, who shortly after would assume the Foreign Ministry portfolio, but it was not until 1993 when he obtained a seat as a PLD deputy for the province of Yamaguchi.
This meteoric trajectory was consolidated in 2003 with his appointment as Secretary General of his party, a position that he combined with that of Junichiro Koizumi’s Cabinet spokesman, whom he would succeed in 2006 as Prime Minister.
The detainee for the attack on Abe is a former member of the Japanese troops
The Japanese Police have identified this July 8 Yamagami Tetsuya, a 41-year-old unemployed man and former member of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces (Japanese Army), as the alleged gunman who shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was admitted to the hospital in cardiorespiratory arrest.
Tetsuya, from the city of Nara, in western Japan, was arrested for attempted murder while holding a weapon with which he would have shot the former Japanese president twice.
According to Japanese Defense Ministry sources, the alleged assailant worked in the naval branch of the Self-Defense Forcesresponsible for the defense of the archipelago, for three years until 2005.
The former Japanese president was shot in the back on Friday while offering a campaign speech on the street near a train station in the city of Nara, according to local police, who arrested Tetsuya as the alleged perpetrator of the attack.
Japan’s PM says Abe is in ‘serious condition’
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the attack against former president Shinzo Abe and confirmed that he is in “serious condition” and that the reason for it is still unknown.
“It is not yet known what is behind this incident, but this is a barbaric act at a time of elections, which are the basis of democracy, so we can never forgive it and we condemn it with the greatest possible force. “said the visibly excited prime minister.
Kishida made these statements to the media after Abe was shot in the back while giving a campaign speech on the street in the city of Nara (west), according to local police, who have arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, a former member of the Maritime Self-Defense Forces (Japanese Army) as the alleged aggressor.
The head of the Japanese Executive pointed out that it is still early to know what the political influence of the event will be, although the Government “is prepared for any result”.
Kishida interrupted his election campaign events to return to Tokyo and he also urged the rest of his ministers to do the same in order to stay informed about the situation and take the appropriate measures.
Abe was shot in the back while giving a campaign speech on the street near a train station in the city of Nara (west), according to local police, who have arrested Yamagami as the alleged perpetrator of the attack, carried out with a homemade weapon similar to a shotgun.
News in development…
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With AFP and Efe
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