Public prosecutors demanded Monday that a 25-year-old man accused of attempted murder and other charges for throwing an explosive at then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during an election campaign speech in Wakayama Prefecture in 2023 be sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The attack was "a malicious act of terrorism" that indiscriminately injured many people, the prosecutors said during a hearing in the trial of Ryuji Kimura at the Wakayama District Court.
The defense said that Kimura had no murderous intent and that he was guilty only of inflicting bodily injury.
Kimura is accused of injuring two people by throwing an explosive with murderous intent at Kishida and others who were visiting a fishing port in the city of Wakayama on April 15, 2023.
The court will issue its ruling on Feb. 19.
The prosecution argued that the explosive device had lethal potential, and that since the defendant made it himself, he understood the danger it posed.
Kimura's defense team said that there was a time lapse of about a minute between when the explosive device was thrown and its explosion, and pointed out that the pipe packed with gunpowder had shot upward.
Kimura did not recognize that the lethality of the device, the defense argued, adding that injuries occurred because a crowd had formed after he was apprehended.
It said that three years' imprisonment was an appropriate punishment for his actions.
"I am very sorry for the trouble I have caused everyone," Kimura told the court in his final statement.
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