New details have emerged in the investigation into the murder of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who died as a result of an armed attack last Friday.
Abe’s murder suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, told in his statement how the family Federation for World Peace and Unification, or Unification Church, the religious group he had previously accused, caused his mother’s bankruptcy. Expressing that his mother joined the religious group in 1998, Yamagami said that he later made large donations to the religious group by selling two plots of land in the city of Nara without the family’s approval. It was reported that the attacker, who explained that the financial situation of his family was getting worse and financial collapse after the large donations, repeated that he believed that Abe was supporting the group that his mother blamed for the bankruptcy.
THE WEAPON TRIED 1 DAY BEFORE THE ATTACK
Yamagami also admitted that the night before the assassination, he went to a facility affiliated with the religious group under investigation and tested his weapon. Police, on the other hand, announced that during their examination of the facility in the city of Nara, there were bullet-like marks on the wall and metal fragments thought to be bullet fragments.
EXPLANATION ABOUT THE ALLEGED DONATION
In the statement made by the church, which is the subject of the allegations, it was confirmed that the attacker’s mother was a follower of the religious group. It is noted that people donate voluntarily and decide on the amount of donations, while Abe previously sent a message to a group event “in praise of the organization’s activities to promote peace”. Despite this, it was emphasized that Abe was not a member or advisor of the group.
He also accused Abe’s grandfather
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead during his election speech in Nara city on Friday. The attacker, a former Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) personnel, said that he had targeted Shinzo Abe because he believed that Abe’s grandfather, the former prime minister, had first brought the religious group, which his mother blamed for his bankruptcy, to Japan in previous statements. (UAV)