The man who assassinated Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe has been sentenced to life in prison, bringing to a close a case that stunned one of the world’s safest countries.

A court in Nara ruled that Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, will spend the rest of his life behind bars for shooting Abe during a campaign speech in 2022.

Prosecutors called the killing “unprecedented in postwar Japan”, where gun crime is almost nonexistent.

Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, was shot from behind with a homemade gun in broad daylight and later died from his injuries. Yamagami was arrested at the scene and pleaded guilty.

In court, prosecutors said the killing was driven by revenge and ideology, not personal grievance. Yamagami told investigators he targeted Abe to expose the former leader’s links to the Unification Church, which he blamed for bankrupting his family.

His mother, a follower of the church, donated more than ¥100 million, forcing Yamagami to abandon his education.

Prosecutors said he believed killing a figure as powerful as Abe would “force the public to confront the church’s influence.”

The case triggered national outrage, exposing long-standing ties between the church and ruling party politicians. The fallout led to new laws against coercive donations and the stripping of the church’s tax-exempt status in Japan.

Life imprisonment allows for parole, but legal experts say many inmates never leave prison.