TOKYO: A Japanese court ordered on Tuesday that a religious sect be stripped of official recognition, the government said, in the wake of the assassination of ex-premier Shinzo Abe.

A government spokesman said that the Tokyo District Court “issued the dissolution order” for the Japanese chapter of the Unification Church, foun­ded in South Korea and nicknamed the “Moonies” after its late founder, Sun Myung Moon.

The Church is accused of pressuring followers into making life-ruining donations, and blamed for child neglect among its members, although it has denied any wrongdoing. Former prime minister Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, was shot dead on the campaign trail in 2022, allegedly by a man who resented the Unifica­tion Church.

The alleged assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, 44, was reportedly angry with the Church which bankrupted his family after his mother had donated around 100 million yen ($1 million at the time). Investigations after Abe’s murder revealed close ties between the sect and many conservative ruling-party lawmakers, leading to the resignation of four ministers.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2025