Ex-Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dies after assassination attempt

Status: 08.07.2022 11:58 a.m

Former Japanese Prime Minister Abe is dead. The 67-year-old was shot during an election campaign and taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The former Japanese prime minister has died as a result of injuries sustained in an attack. This was confirmed by the hospital where the 67-year-old was treated after the attack.

According to the doctors, Abe’s vital signs were no longer detectable when he was admitted. The clinic confirmed that the bullets fired in the attack caused Abe two deep injuries: one on the right side of his neck and the other in his chest. This wound reached to the heart.

Abe lost massive amounts of blood as a result of these injuries. Despite the supply of blood supplies, it was ultimately not possible to save the 67-year-old’s life.

Shots during campaign appearance

Fire was opened on Abe while he was delivering a campaign speech in Nara at around 11:30 a.m. local time (about 04:30 a.m. Central European Time). Abe retired from the post of prime minister in 2020 but remained politically active for his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

As ARD correspondent Ulrich Mendgen reported The alleged perpetrator apparently shot Abe twice from behind. He fell to the ground with serious injuries and was then taken to a clinic by helicopter. After the assassination, the media consistently reported that Abe was unconscious and not breathing. Apparently he had suffered cardiac arrest.

Abe’s wife, Akie Abe, is escorted to the Kashihara hospital where her husband was treated in the hours after the assassination.

Image: AFP

Perpetrator is ex-soldier

The suspected shooter was arrested, according to government sources. It should be loud with him ARD correspondent Ulrich Mendgen A 41-year-old man who was a member of the Japanese armed forces years ago.

The suspect is currently being questioned by the police. His possible motive is still unclear. Conflicting information was circulating. Initially, it was said that the suspected shooter stated when he was arrested that he was “dissatisfied” with Abe and “wanted to kill him on purpose”. But then it was said that the suspect had rejected political reasons for his act. Therefore, it could also be a mentally disturbed person, guess Mendgen.

Ulrich Mendgen, ARD Tokyo: “Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has succumbed to his serious injuries”

tagesschau24 11:00 a.m., 8.7.2022

Longest in office as prime minister

Abe ruled Japan from December 2012 to September 2020. Under him, Japan had moved significantly to the right. Abe was among the staunch advocates of a revision of the post-war pacifist constitution. In Article 9 of the Constitution, Japan “forever renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes”.

Japan is in a “state of horror” after the attack Mendgen reported. The act doesn’t fit this country at all, since political attacks are very rare. The last attack of this kind was eight years ago. So the shock is all the greater now.

sympathy from abroad

The deadly attack on Abe also triggered deep horror abroad. A spokesman for the federal government emphasized that Germany is firmly on Japan’s side.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of “incredibly sad news”. Abe’s “global leadership role will not be forgotten. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was also shocked: “My thoughts are with the family of our Japanese friend, who was always very courteous towards Poland.”