TOKYO -- Japan's government announced on Thursday its decision to request a court order to dissolve the scandal-ridden Unification Church as a religious corporation, following an 11-month-long investigation triggered by the murder of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his perceived links to the group.
At a news conference in Tokyo, Masahito Moriyama, Japan's culture minister, said the group has "inflicted large amounts of continuous damage on many people's lives since around 1980," including by causing "the deterioration of family relations and great harm to mental health." The government considers these "grounds for requesting dissolution," he said.
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