Abe Shooting Suspect: "Did Not Expect a Situation Like the Unification Church Dissolution Order"

Former Prime Minister Abe Shot During 2022 Election Campaign
"Family in Turmoil Due to Mother's Large Donations to Unification Church" Statement

Tetsuya Yamagami, who assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said regarding the moves to file a dissolution order against the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (formerly the Unification Church, hereafter Family Federation) after the incident, "I did not think it would lead to the current situation."

According to an NHK report on the 22nd, Yamagami said this to his legal team who visited him at Osaka Detention Center on the 20th. He was indicted on charges including murder for fatally shooting former Prime Minister Abe during an election campaign in Nara City in July 2022. Yamagami also mentioned that he has been receiving letters from people whose parents are members of the Family Federation, saying, "I don't know if the incident was good or bad for the children."

Tetsuya Yamagami, who shot and killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is seen being transferred from the Nara Western Police Station to the prosecution.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

During police investigations, Yamagami revealed his motive for the crime, stating, "My mother donated a large sum of money to the Unification Church, which ruined our family."

After the incident, the large donations to the Family Federation and the election collusion between the Family Federation and Japanese politicians became social issues. The Japanese government secured related materials and testimonies through its right to question the Family Federation, and judged that objective evidence supporting the organizational nature, maliciousness, and continuity?requirements for filing a dissolution order against a religious corporation?was in place. Consequently, it filed a dissolution order with the court in October last year.

Yamagami's trial schedule has not yet been set, but the first hearing is expected to be held sometime next year or later.