The Fukuoka High Court on Wednesday upheld a 12-year prison term for a senior mobster for attacking the home of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other related places in his constituency in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in 2000 with Molotov cocktails.
In dismissing an appeal filed by Toshihiko Ikeda, 61, presiding Judge Hiroo Suyama said there are "no misrepresentations in the facts" by the Kokura branch of the Fukuoka District Court in recognizing a conspiracy based on confessions by accomplices.
According to the court, Ikeda conspired with the boss of his yakuza group and others and threw Molotov cocktails at Abe's home, the office of his supporters and other related locations on five occasions between June and August 2000.
The incidents are believed to have been initiated by Saichi Koyama, a real estate broker who asked the gang boss, Motoshi Takano, to carry out the attacks after one of Abe's local aides rejected Koyama's request for cash in return for his support for a 1999 city mayoral candidate.
The accused accomplices are standing trial separately.