Man in Japan arrested over suspected attempt to repeat 1987 attack on reporters
Japan have arrested a man over a parcel containing threats sent to a news outlet in a suspected copycat attempt of the most serious attack on the media in the country's modern history.
Kazuhiro Muto, 38, was arrested at his home in the city of Fuji, Shizuoka prefecture, on June 3, a month after a parcel allegedly from him was delivered to an office of the Asahi Shimbun in Nishinomiya, the newspaper reported.
The parcel arrived just after the anniversary of the May 3, 1987 attack in the same office, in which an Asahi reporter was shot dead and another seriously injured. A group calling itself 'Sekihotai' in a statement claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 29-year-old Tomohiro Kojiri and severely wounded his colleague, Hyoe Inukai, then 42.
A letter purportedly sent by the group carried the message: 'We do not accept anyone who betrays Japan. We sentence all Asahi Shimbun employees to death.'
The gunman was never identified, and the statute of limitations in the case expired in 2002.
The parcel that allegedly involved Muto contained photographs of Asahi reporters that had been defaced, a toy gun and a statement that quoted the original claim of responsibility for the 1987 attack. The statement was signed 'Reiwa Sekihotai', with Reiwa being the name of the present imperial era of Japan.
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