Tetsuya Yamagami Owns Up to Killing Japan’s Former PM Abe
(MENAFN) Tetsuya Yamagami, the man accused of killing Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, formally admitted guilt as his trial commenced Tuesday, according to local reports.
On July 8, 2022, the 45-year-old allegedly shot Abe with a homemade firearm during an election rally in Nara city, located in Japan’s western Kansai region. Abe later died from his injuries that day.
Speaking to investigators, Yamagami said, "he committed the crime due to a grudge he held against the Unification Church over the financial ruin caused to his family as a result of massive donations -- likely some 100 million yen ($660,000) -- that his mother made to the group,” media reported.
The Unification Church, a controversial religious organization established in South Korea in 1954 by a fervent anti-communist, has since been dissolved in Japan. The group had received backing from Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.
Yamagami’s actions have spotlighted ties between the church and lawmakers within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), triggering national scrutiny.
The Nara District Court is expected to deliver its verdict in January 2026.
Following the assassination, the LDP government pursued legal action to disband the church, with a Japanese court officially ordering its dissolution in March this year. The group, notorious for its mass weddings and aggressive solicitation of donations, has now become a political liability, denting public trust in the ruling party.
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