Japanese prosecutors charge the late PM Abe’s suspected shooter
On Friday, Japanese prosecutors said they had charged Tetsuya Yamagami, the man suspected of murdering former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a fatal shooting last year.
Nara prosecutors’ office said Yamagami was charged with murder and firearms possession after Abe was shot dead on July 8 while giving a campaign speech on the street in the city.
READ ALSO: Abe’s State Funeral: Man sets himself ablaze
Further reports reveal that Yamagami has been undergoing psychiatric evaluation in Nara since his arrest last year to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial. His detention period evaluation expired on Tuesday.
Yamagami was detained at the scene and admitted to shooting Abe, according to Nara Nishi police. Doctors said the bullet that killed the former prime minister was “deep enough to reach his heart” and that he died from excessive bleeding.
Abe, 67, the former Liberal Democratic Party leader and Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, held office from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020 before resigning due to health reasons.
His assassination in broad daylight shocked the world and sent shock waves through Japan. World leaders offered their condolences while thousands of mourners gathered in the streets of Tokyo to pay tribute. An elaborate and controversial state funeral was held for Abe in September.
NHK reported at the time that the suspect had targeted the former prime minister because he believed Abe’s grandfather – another former leader of the country – had helped expand a religious group he held a grudge against.
It has not been confirmed what group Yamagami was referring to independently; however, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida referenced Abe’s connections to the Unification Church during a parliamentary session last September, saying there were limits to understanding the former prime minister’s ties to the group following his death.
In October, Kishida ordered an investigation into the church amid a growing scandal tying his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to the controversial religious group that has seen several ministers resign.
The church, originally known as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, was founded in South Korea in 1954. It had a global reach by the 1980s and remains prominent in parts of Asia today.
CNN/S.O
