(Tokyo) Le premier ministre japonais Fumio Kishida a repris ses activités électorales samedi, après avoir été évacué sain et sauf d’une explosion dans l’ouest du pays où il s’apprêtait à prononcer un discours, ont relaté des médias japonais.
Cet incident intervient neuf mois seulement après l’assassinat de l’ancien premier ministre nippon Shinzo Abe lors d’un évènement de campagne électorale en juillet dernier, qui a choqué au Japon comme à l’étranger et forcé l’archipel à revoir ses dispositifs de sécurité.
Un homme de 24 ans, originaire de la région d’Hyogo (ouest), a été arrêté, a fait savoir à l’AFP la police de Wakayama. Aucune information n’a pour l’heure été donnée sur le motif de cette explosion.
PHOTO AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Plusieurs médias, dont l’agence de presse Kyodo, ont rapporté qu’un objet ressemblant à une « bombe fumigène » avait été lancé
« Il y a eu une forte explosion […] The police are investigating to find out the details, but I would like to apologize for causing concern and inconvenience to many people,” Mr. Kishida said on Saturday in the early afternoon (Japanese time) outside Wakayama Station, a few kilometers from the scene of the incident.
“An important campaign for our country is unfolding, and we must work together and see it through,” he added.
He was also scheduled to attend another public event in the afternoon in Chiba, near Tokyo.
The Japanese leader was due to speak in the fishing port of Saikazaki on Saturday morning to support a candidate from his party for a by-election, and had just tasted local fish when a movement of panic took hold of the crowd.
Several outlets, including the Kyodo News Agency, reported that an object resembling a ‘smoke bomb’ was thrown and television footage showed crowds moving before an explosion sounded, followed by a release of white smoke.
NHK television broadcast footage showing a person held to the ground by police as the crowd dispersed, and reported that a man had been arrested at the scene on suspicion of “obstructing business”.
“Unpardonable Atrocity”
“I ran frantically, then, about ten seconds later, I heard a loud noise and my child started crying. I was in shock. My heart is still beating really hard,” a woman at the scene told NHK.
PHOTO BY KAZUHIRO NOGI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a partisan rally.
Another person explained to the television channel that a movement of panic among the crowd was triggered even before the explosion, when one person said he saw someone throwing an explosive device.
“It is unfortunate that such an incident happened in the middle of an election campaign, which is the foundation of democracy. It is an unforgivable atrocity,” Hiroshi Moriyama, head of electoral strategy for the LDP, told NHK.
Japan has tightened its security arrangements after the assassination last July of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was shot and killed while speaking at an election campaign event.
The security apparatus protecting Mr. Abe was relatively light, and his assassination prompted a thorough examination of how politicians are protected.
The head of the Japanese national police had subsequently resigned, after acknowledging “failures” in the protection of the former head of government.
His alleged killer, Tetsuya Yamagami, said he targeted Mr Abe because of his alleged ties to the Moon sect, also known as the Unification Church.
The suspect resented this group, to which his mother would have made very large donations, leading their family to ruin.
Saturday’s new incident comes as Japan hosts G7 ministerial meetings this weekend, and the leaders’ summit of the group’s countries is to be held in May in Hiroshima.
In Sapporo (North), the special envoy of the president of the United States for the climate, John Kerry, said he was “very worried” after being informed of the incident. Mr. Kishida “is a personal friend and someone I greatly admire”, he added.