Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted Tetsuya Yamagami, suspected of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 42-year-old Yamagami was indicted on murder charges as well as for violating gun laws after concluding a roughly six-month psychiatric evaluation.
The Nara prosecutors’ office said in a statement that Tetsuya Yamagami had been indicted on murder and firearms charges after Abe was shot dead on July 8 while giving a campaign speech on a central city street.
In a crime that shocked the world, Yamagami had been arrested on the spot on July 8 after allegedly shooting Abe with a handmade gun while the former premier was giving a speech at an election campaign in the western city of Nara.
He allegedly held a grudge against the controversial Unification Church for impoverishing his family by convincing his mother to donate around 100 million yen (USD 774,700), and he blamed Abe for promoting the religious organization. The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954 and is well-known for its mass weddings, with its Japanese followers providing a significant source of income.
Yamagami has been undergoing psychiatric evaluation in Nara since his arrest last year in order to determine his mental fitness to stand trial.
Assassination of Former Prime Minister Unveils Deep Church-LDP Lawmaker Ties
According to Nara Nishi police, Yamagami was detained at the scene and admitted to shooting the former prime minister. The assassination revealed evidence of deep and long-standing ties between the church and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers.
The LDP has denied any organizational ties to the church while admitting that many lawmakers have ties to the religious group. Abe, the former leader of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and the country’s longest-serving prime minister, served from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020 before stepping down due to health concerns.