In Japan, a court has ordered the dissolution of the Unification Church after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The church, founded in South Korea and nicknamed the “Moonies” after its late founder, Sun Myung Moon, is accused of pressuring followers into making life-ruining donations and blamed for child neglect among its members, although it has denied any wrongdoing.

The church, in a statement, called the court order regrettable and unjust, adding that the court’s decision was based on a wrong legal interpretation and was absolutely unacceptable. The church said it was considering an immediate appeal of the Tokyo District Court’s revocation of its legal status, which will take away its tax-exempt privilege and require the liquidation of its assets.

The order followed a request by Japan’s Education Ministry in 2023 to dissolve the influential South Korea-based sect, citing manipulative fundraising and recruitment tactics that sowed fear among followers and harmed their families.

The investigation into Abe’s assassination revealed decades of cosy ties between the South Korea-based church and Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party. The church obtained legal status as a religious organisation in Japan in the 1960s during an anti-communist movement supported by former Prime Minister Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. The man accused of killing Abe resented the church and blamed it for his family’s financial troubles.