Japan charges Yamagami for the murder of ex-PM Shinzo Abe

TOKYO: Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted Tetsuya Yamagami, suspected of killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reported CNN.

42-year-old Yamagami was indicted on murder charges as well as for violating gun laws after concluding a roughly six-month psychiatric evaluation.

Nara prosecutors' office said in a statement it had indicted Tetsuya Yamagami on murder and firearms charges after Abe was shot dead on July 8 while giving a campaign speech on a street in the central city, reported CNN.

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 reportedly held a grudge against the controversial Unification Church for impoverishing his family as it persuaded his mother to donate around 100 million yen (USD 774,700) and blamed Abe for promoting the religious organization.

The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954 and is famous for its mass weddings, relying on its Japanese followers as a key source of income.

Yamagami has been undergoing psychiatric evaluation in Nara since his arrest last year to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial, public broadcaster NHK reported. His detention period evaluation expired on Tuesday, NHK added.

Yamagami was detained at the scene and admitted to shooting the former prime minister, according to Nara Nishi police. The killing shed light on evidence to reveal deep and longstanding relations between the church and Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers.

The LDP has denied any organizational link to the church but has acknowledged that many lawmakers have ties to the religious group.

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.