Tokyo, Japan

Japanese prosecutors on Friday indicted the man accused of killing the former prime minister Shinzo Abe, a local court said. The indictment comes after a months-long psychiatric review deemed Tetsuya Yamagami fit to stand trial.

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In a statement, Nara prosecutors’ office told AFP that Yamagami is being put on trial on the charges of murdering Abe and violating gun laws. If convicted, the accused could face the death penalty, RTE reported.

After the former Japanese prime minister was shot dead on July 8, last year, during his election campaign speech in the western city of Nara, the 42-year-old accused was detained on the spot. Yamagami had earlier admitted to killing Abe with a homemade gun.

Also Read | Shinzo Abe's killer: Who is he and why did he target the beloved ex-Prime Minister?

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The bullet that killed Abe was “deep enough to reach his heart.” The former prime minister died from excessive bleeding, doctors told CNN.

Yamagami allegedly harboured resentment towards the controversial Unification Church for coaxing his mother to make a donation of approximately $774,700 (100 million yen), bankrupting his family, and he held Abe responsible for supporting the sect, Reuters reported.

"He (Yamagami) confessed that he had some resentment against a certain organisation and was under the impression that the former prime minister having some connection to it, which led to the act. I would like to avoid further details," Kazuhisa Yamamura, the head of the first investigation division, Nara prefecture police had said back then.

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Another reason why Yamagami targeted Abe could be that he believed Abe’s grandfather, who was also a former leader of the nation, had assisted the growth of a religious group he had a beef with, according to NHK.

Watch | Shinzo Abe assassination: Japan PM Fumio Kishida orders probe into unification church

Abe wasn’t a member of the church but had addressed a group that was associated with the church, CNA reported.

The sect, which Sun Myung Moon founded in Korea in 1954 and whose followers are often referred to as "Moonies," earned recognition throughout the world in the 1970s and 1980s. Officially known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, the church, has vowed to stop members from making "excessive" donations while denying any wrongdoing.

(With inputs from agencies)

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