The Tokyo District Court ordered the dissolution of the Unification Church on Tuesday. This is an influential cult linked to the assassination of Prime Minister West in 2022.
The reason stated by the court that ordered the Unification Church to be dissolved was financial fraud and a very active solicitation of donations from the group's followers. The suspect was arrested for Abe's death, Yamagami Tetsuya I said He was distraught with his mother, who was bankrupting his family with a massive donation to the church. He targeted Abe because he believed the former Prime Minister was “deeply connected to the Unification Church.”
The Unification Church was formally reformed in 1994 as the Family Federation of World Peace and Unity, and is known to its detractors as “Mooning” – Established In 1954, a Korean Presbyterian clergy named him Sang Myung Moon. The moon claimed it had received God's vision, which directed him to complete the work of Jesus Christ by uniting humanity in peace.
The Unification Church became infamous in the 1970s for its cult programming, large weddings and aggressive looting of its followers. They rebranded in the 1990s to escape this stigma, but critics said the organization hadn't really changed.
What's not well known until quite recently is the Unification Church It became It is very influential in Japan, and very influential in Japan, and well connected. This includes broad ties with the Abe Democrats (LDP).
Yamagami was one of hundreds of Japanese people who claimed that their families were brainwashed by the Unification Church and manipulated to give much of their family's destiny. Law enforcement officials told them they were making spiritual reparations for Japan's brutal occupation of Japan's empire in World War II, so the church said it was very good at withdrawing money from Japanese victims.
After Abe's assassination, then Prime Minister Kishida Fumio Grapple With a huge scandal and fundraising issue surrounding LDP ties with the Unification Church. government investigation carried out During the scandal, it was discovered that 179 of the 379 seated lawmakers of the LDP had connections to the church.
The trial that led to the order for disbandment on Tuesday began in October 2023 by the Japanese Ministry of Education. request Actions against the Unification Church against manipulative and predatory practices towards their followers.
Under the Japanese system, the Ministry of Education oversees religious organizations. The law known as the Religious Business Act allows courts to dissolve religious groups engaged in “actions that violate laws and regulations and are clearly deemed extremely harmful to public welfare.”
The Ministry of Education has submitted thousands of evidence to the court to identify approximately 1,550 victims who have suffered a total of 20.4 billion yen ($137 million) in damages.
If the order is not successfully appealed, the Unification Church will become Japan's first religious organization to lose its tax-free status in civil court cases. Other notorious examples of cults banned in Japan were forced to dissolve after a criminal conviction. The most famous include the Aum Shinrikyo Doomsday Cult, which launched a terrorist attack on Salingus on the Tokyo subway system in 1995.
By chance, 30th anniversary The attack on aum shinrikyo's attack was just five days before the courthouse Arbitration To the Unification Church.
The Tokyo District Court also ordered the Unification Church to settle its assets, but the church did not technically prohibit conversion in Japan. Nevertheless, the Unification Church said it would appeal the court's ruling as a violation of religious freedom.
