Suspect pleads guilty to murdering former Japanese PM Abe

Tetsuya Yamagami exits court after a hearing. (Photo/Kyodo via Reuters)

The man accused of assassinating former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe pleaded guilty on Tuesday, three years after the shocking daylight killing that stunned Japan and the world.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, admitted to shooting Abe with a homemade firearm during a campaign speech in the western city of Nara on July 8, 2022.

“Everything is true,” Yamagami told the court, according to local media. He faces charges of murder and violating Japan’s strict arms control laws.

“Killed because of ties to the Unification Church”

Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was gunned down while addressing voters ahead of parliamentary elections.

The attack, unprecedented in a country known for its low crime rate and tight gun laws, sparked a nationwide outpouring of grief and soul-searching over political security.

Prosecutors allege that Yamagami targeted Abe because he believed the former leader had ties to the Unification Church, a religious group his mother had donated large sums of money to, leaving the family bankrupt.

The case reignited public debate in Japan over the influence of the church — officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification — on politics, leading to government scrutiny and lawsuits against the organisation.

Abe’s private funeral was held at a temple in Tokyo days after the assassination, drawing thousands of mourners who lined the streets to pay their respects.

If convicted, Yamagami faces the possibility of life imprisonment or the death penalty under Japanese law.

Source: TRT