The international community and Japan are in shock. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe died on Friday after being the target of an attack during an election rally in Nara, western Japan. As Japanese police began a search of the suspect’s home this morning, 20 minutes returns to the assassination attempt against the former Japanese Prime Minister.
What happened this Friday in Nara, Japan?
Japan’s 67-year-old former chief executive Shinzo Abe was delivering a speech Friday at a campaign rally ahead of Sunday’s senatorial elections when gunshots were heard, national broadcaster NHK reported and Kyodo News Agency. Shinzo Abe collapsed and was bleeding from his neck, a source from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) told Jiji news agency. The politician showed no signs of life once on the ground.
“He was giving a speech and a man came up from behind,” a young woman at the scene told NHK. “The first shot sounded like a toy. He didn’t fall and there was a big bang. The second shot was more visible, you could see the spark and smoke, she added. After the second shot, people surrounded him and gave him heart massage. »
This Friday, Shinzo Abe finally died. “Shinzo Abe was taken (to hospital) at 12:20 p.m. He was in a state of cardio-respiratory arrest when he arrived. (The doctors tried) to resuscitate him. However, he sadly passed away at 5:03 p.m.,” said Hidetada Fukushima, professor of emergency medicine at Nara Medical University Hospital. Japan hasn’t seen anything like it “for more than fifty to sixty years,” said Corey Wallace, a lecturer at Kanagawa University and a specialist in Japanese politics. According to him, the last similar incident in Japan was the 1960 assassination of Inejiro Asanuma, the leader of the Japanese Socialist Party, who was stabbed by a student close to the extreme right.
Who is the man suspected of shooting Shinzo Abe?
A man was arrested for ‘attempted murder’ within hours of the attack on Shinzo Abe, Japanese media reported. Citing police sources, the public television channel NHK said the suspect appears to be in his 40s and a weapon was seized.
Local police were unable to make an immediate statement. Local PLD officials said they had received no threat before the attack and that Sinzo Abe’s speech had been announced publicly.
Where is the investigation?
Japanese police entered the home of the suspect in the shooting attack a few hours earlier on former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Nara (west) this morning, according to images from public television NHK . Footage showed several police officers wearing protective gear, helmets and shields entering a building identified by NHK as the home of the man arrested for attempted murder soon after the attack.
What are the reactions of the international community?
A large part of the world leaders spoke this morning in favor of the former Japanese Prime Minister. Starting with French President Emmanuel Macron who said he was “deeply shocked by the heinous attack”.
China also said it was “shocked” by the attempted murder, expressing its “sympathy” for his family. Ditto for the United States, through the voice of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said he was “deeply concerned” by such an attack. European Council President Charles Michel said he was “shocked and saddened by the cowardly attack” on Thursday against the former Japanese Prime Minister, whom he described as a “true friend, fierce defender of the multilateral order and democratic values”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted as “deeply shocked” by a “heinous” attack and assured that the Alliance, of which Tokyo is a close ally, “stands by”. of the Japanese and their government. The future ex-British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson also said this Friday “dismayed and saddened” after the “abject” shooting attack against Shinzo Abe.
Finally, Russia denounced “a monstrous crime” and an “act of terrorism”, referring to the attack. “We are confident that those who engineered and committed this monstrous crime will be duly punished for this act of terrorism which has and cannot have any justification,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Who was Shinzo Abe?
Shinzo Abe was 52 when he first became head of government in 2006, the youngest in his country’s post-war era. He made an impression during his second term in power (2012-2020) with a bold economic recovery policy and intense diplomatic activity, but which left a deep feeling of incompleteness.
Shinzo Abe is best known abroad with his economic policy dubbed “Abenomics” launched from the end of 2012, combining monetary easing, massive fiscal stimulus and structural reforms. It has recorded certain successes, such as a notable increase in the activity rate of women and seniors, as well as greater recourse to immigration in the face of labor shortages.
Having built part of his reputation on his firmness vis-à-vis North Korea, Abe also advocated a Japan uninhibited from its past: in particular, he refused to bear the burden of repentance for the abuses of the Japanese army in China. and on the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the 20th century. The politician also tried not to offend Russian President Vladimir Putin. His hope? Settle the dispute over the Southern Kuril Islands, annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II and never returned to Japan.