A Japanese court has sentenced Tetsuya Yamagami to life in prison for the 2022 assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, a killing that stunned the nation.

Yamagami pleaded guilty to shooting Abe with a homemade weapon during an election speech in Nara, an act prosecutors described as unprecedented in postwar Japan.

He said the attack was motivated by anger over Abe’s ties to the Unification Church, which Yamagami blamed for bankrupting his family through his mother’s donations.

The case exposed longstanding links between the church and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic party, triggering public outrage and political fallout, The Guardian has reported.

In the wake of the killing, the church lost its tax-exempt status in Japan, and new laws were introduced to curb abusive fundraising practices.