Huge price paid for being in public eye: Abe, Gadhafi, Bhutto & more, politicians assassinated in 21st century

Shinzo Abe, former Japanese prime minister, has been assassinated. The former premier collapsed after he was shot at while delivering a speech at a campaign event in the western Japanese city of Nara, state broadcaster NHK reported on Friday (July 8). After the shooting, a male suspect was taken into custody.

On October 15, 2021, a fan of the Islamic State fatally stabbed British legislator David Amess as he interacted with voters. Ali Harbi Ali, was given a life sentence for the murder of the politician.

He had said at the trial that he had no regrets about murdering father-of-five Amess in retaliation for votes in the legislature supporting airstrikes in Syria in 2014 and 2015.

On April 20, 2021, rebels in the north kill Chad President Idriss Deby Itno. He had won an election that would have extended his rule for another six years just hours ago.
 

On July 7, 2021, gunmen entered the residence of the Moïse family in Port-au-Prince and kill Haitian President Jovenel Moïse while injuring his wife Martine. High-ranking police officers and a number of ex-Colombian soldiers are among the more than 40 people who have been detained in Haiti for the attack.

On December 19, 2016, a Turkish policeman shoots and kills Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, shouting condemnation of Russia's military role in Syria, in front of an audience of horrified onlookers at a photo exhibit. Later, during a shootout with police, the shooter was killed.

On June 16, 2016, a far-right extremist killed British lawmaker Jo Cox in the English village of Birstall. The killer shouted "Britain first" before proceeding to shoot and stab the Labour lawmaker. This happened in the heated run-up to the Brexit referendum. 

The murderer is also serving a whole-life sentence.

Chokri Belaid, a prominent member of Tunisia's left-wing opposition, was fatally shot on February 6, 2013. His murder, which was followed by the death of another left-wing leader, Mohammed Brahmi, six months later, threw Tunisia into political anarchy, with consequences that are still felt today. No one has been convicted in either case.

On September 11, 2012, militants stormed the US diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, killing US Ambassador Chris Stevens. Three more Americans perished in the attack.

Following his overthrow in a NATO-backed rebellion, longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is pursued and brutally murdered by revolutionaries on Oct. 20, 2011.

On March 2, 2009, renegade soldiers assassinated President Joao Bernardo Vieira at his palace in Guinea-Bissau, only hours after his rival was slain in a bombing there.

On December 27, 2007, a suicide bomber attacked Benazir Bhutto at a political event in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She was the country's second democratically elected prime minister and the first female leader of a Muslim-majority nation.

On February 14, 2005, a suicide truck bomb on a boulevard beside the sea in Beirut kills Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The incident, which many in Lebanon believe was the work of neighbouring Syria, claimed the lives of another 21 people and left 226 more injured.

A UN-backed court sentenced two Hezbollah members in their absence to life imprisonment recently.

On December 29, 2003, gunmen opened fire on Archbishop Michael Courtney, the pope's ambassador to Burundi. He later passed away during surgery.

On March 12, 2003, a gunman in Belgrade shoots and kills Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic in front of the Serbian government building. 

Djindjic played a significant role in the uprising that forced the ouster of Slobodan Milosevic as president in October 2000. A Serbian court convicted  twelve people ere in connection with the killing, which was carried out to prevent the PM's pro-Western reforms.

On May 6, 2002, an animal rights activist shot and killed populist Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn in a city in the north of the country, just days before a general election in which he was running.

Volkert van der Graaf was convicted for assassinating politician Pim Fortuyn. Graaf  stated at his trial that he killed Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats" and targeting "the vulnerable sections of society" in seeking political power.

On June 1, 2001, the Crown Prince of Nepal, Dipendra, opens fire on his family in the palace, killing King Birendra. Queen Aiswarya, a prince, and five other people were amongst the deceased. Officials said that a disagreement about the prince's marriage was the cause of the shooting.

On January 18, 2001, one of Congo President Laurent Kabila's bodyguards shot and killed him in the presidential palace in the nation's capital, Kinshasa. Security personnel then shot and killed the killer bodyguard.