Man who threw bomb at Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gets 10 years in prison

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The man who threw a homemade bomb at then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in 2023 was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for attempted murder.

Ryuji Kimura, 25, attacked Kishida during a campaign speech in Wakayama on April 15, 2023.

"The defendant committed (the attack) at the venue of an election speech, which forms the foundation of democracy, and it cannot be disregarded that the election was seriously disrupted," Judge Keiko Fukushima said in court.

One police officer was slightly injured during the attack on Kishida. One person attending the campaign event also had minor injuries from the bomb.

According to police, Ryuji carried two cyindrical objects during the attack. One exploded but police seized the other one.

The bomb was thrown at Kishida less than a year after then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed during a campaign appearance in Nara.

Prosecutors had sought a 15-year sentence for Kimura.

Kimura denied an intent to kill Kishida but prosecutors asserted he did have the intent to kill and that Kimura knew the homemade bomb had the capacity to kill.