Head of Japan's Unification Church vows to fight loss of legal protections

27/3/2025 15:58

The head of the Unification Church's Japan branch vowed to fight a court order revoking its legal protections, following a scandal over fundraising practices and links to the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.



Tomihiro Tanaka, the Japanese president of the group now known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, told reporters on Thursday the group had settled all cases of damages levelled against it and the court's order was an attack on religious freedom.



"As a righteous, democratic nation and a nation governed by the rule of law, we will fight to the end for the right decision to be made," Tanaka said at a briefing in Tokyo.



The Tokyo District Court's dissolution order on the Unification Church on Tuesday was widely expected and came at the government's request after an investigation into the church for its alleged practice of seeking excessive donations from parishioners.



The order revokes the group's tax exemptions and opens it up to greater financial scrutiny and potential lawsuits.



The organisation came under a spotlight after Abe was gunned down in July 2022 by a man angry at the former prime minister's alleged links to the church.