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A man set a fire near the Japanese prime minister’s residence on Wednesday in protest of the government’s decision to hold a state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on July 8 this year, media reported.
A man in his 70s was unconscious when he was first found, but later told police he had deliberately oiled himself, according to media reports. A letter was found nearby saying that Prime Minister Abe’s state funeral was “resolutely opposed.” He was taken to a hospital with burns all over his body, and a police officer was injured while trying to put out the fire. Police have refused to confirm the incident, which occurred on Abe’s 68th birthday.
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About 6,000 people from Japan and abroad are expected to attend the state funeral of Prime Minister Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, on September 27.
Japanese police seek motives for man who set himself on fire on high-speed bullet train
Opposition to the event is mounting after revelations of the controversial ties between the Unification Church and Prime Minister Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party. The suspect who shot Abe accused him of supporting a church that bankrupted his mother.