Man sentenced to 10 years in prison for attack on former Japanese premier

ISLAMABAD

A court in Japan sentenced a man to 10 years in prison Wednesday for the attempted murder in 2023 of then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, local media reported.

The district court in the city of Wakayama announced the verdict against 25-year-old Ryuji Kimura, according to the NHK news agency.

Kimura hurled a homemade pipe bomb at Kishida as he approached a crowd to make an election speech in city of Wakayama.

The blast injured a police officer and a member of the public but Kishida was unharmed.

The incident occurred less than a year after the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot dead at an outdoor election campaign event.