Tokyo
CNN
—
Japanese Prosecutors on Friday said they had indicted a man suspected of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year in a fatal shooting.
The Nara public prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it had indicted Tetsuya Yamagami on charges of murder and gun use after Abe was shot dead on July 8 while giving a campaign speech on a radio station. street in the city.
The Nara District Court confirmed to CNN that it received the indictment.
Yamagami has been undergoing psychiatric evaluation in Nara since his arrest last year to determine if he is fit to stand trial, public broadcaster NHK reported. NHK added that his review of his detention expired on Tuesday.
Yamagami was held at the scene and admitted to shooting Abe, according to police officer Nara Nishi.
Doctors said the bullet that killed the former prime minister was “deep enough to reach his heart” and he died from excessive bleeding.
Abe, 67, a former leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, held office from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020, before stepping down for political reasons. health.
His assassination in broad daylight shocked the world and sent shockwaves throughout Japan. World leaders offered their condolences while thousands of mourners gathered on the streets of Tokyo to pay their respects. An elaborate and controversial National mourning 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 had evil intentions of. have a cold.
CNN was unable to independently confirm the group that Yamagami was referring to, however, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida mentioned Abe’s connections to the group. Unity Church in a parliamentary session last September, said there were “limits to understanding” the former prime minister’s relationship with the group after his death.
In October, Kishida ordered an investigation of the church amid a growing scandal that linked his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a controversial religious group. ministers resign
The church, originally called the Spirit Association for World Christian Unity, was founded in Korea in 1954. It went global in the 1980s and is still prominent in regions. area of Asia today.
