TOKYO, March 25, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A Japanese court ordered on Tuesday that the religious sect the Unification Church be stripped of official recognition, the government said, in the wake of the 2022 assassination of ex-prime minister Shinzo Abe.

An education ministry spokesman told AFP that the Tokyo District Court "issued the dissolution order" for the Japanese chapter of the Unification Church, founded in South Korea and nicknamed the "Moonies" after its late founder, Sun Myung Moon.

Former prime minister Abe -- Japan's longest-serving leader -- was shot dead on the campaign trail in 2022, allegedly by a man who resented the Unification Church.

The assassin was reportedly angry that his mother had donated some 100 million yen ($1 million at the time) to the Church.

Investigations after Abe's murder revealed close ties between the sect and many conservative ruling-party lawmakers, leading to the resignation of four ministers.

The Church is accused of pressuring followers into making life-ruining donations, and blamed for child neglect among its members -- although it has denied any wrongdoing.