The Osaka High Court has upheld a lower court ruling of a 10-year jail term for a man charged with the attempted murder of then-Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in 2023.
The defense for 26-year-old Kimura Ryuji immediately appealed against the ruling to the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Kimura is accused of throwing a home-made explosive device near Kishida while he was visiting a fishing port in Wakayama City, near Osaka, to campaign for a candidate in a national by-election. It went off and injured two people. Kishida was quickly evacuated from the scene and was unharmed.
A district court sentenced Kimura to 10 years in jail. He appealed, saying that he had no intent to kill anyone.
Osaka High Court Judge Ishikawa Kyoji ruled that the defendant must have been well aware of the high likelihood that the explosion would injure or kill people.
The judge said the defendant insisted that he thought there would be enough time for people to evacuate, but it was not the kind of situation where they could have reacted quickly to such a totally unexpected development.
He said it would be extremely difficult to believe the defendant was not aware of that likelihood.
The judge concluded that the district court ruling should be upheld.
AloJapan.com