The Ffscalia of the Japanese city of Nara formally accused this Friday (13.01.2023) of murder the author of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well as violating the law of control of firearms, swords and other similar weapons.
Japanese authorities filed the charges against Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, after considering that the results of the psychological evaluation to which he was subjected for about six months do not show that he has any mental condition that would have a significant impact on his ability to judge right and wrong, according to state broadcaster NHK.
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According to article 39 of the Japanese Penal Code, if it is determined that the perpetrator of a crime was not in full mental faculties he can receive a reduced sentence, while if such actions were the product of insanity or alienation “they are not subject to punishment” so it is expected that the psychological examination will be key in the trial.
Funeral ceremony honoring Shinzo Abe in Tokyo. (27.09.2022).
The Nara prosecutor’s office team working on the case believes Yamagami may be criminally responsible, considering that both the gun and gunpowder used in Abe’s shooting were made by him, and that he studied the politician’s rally program.
Yamagami was arrested on July 8, 2022, after fatally shooting Abe with a homemade weapon similar to a shotgun while the former president participated in an election rally in the streets of Nara, in the west of the archipelago.
Yamagami, a former military resident in that city, was arrested at the scene. Abe died hours later, aged 67, from bleeding from the impact of several shells.
Police plan to continue investigating with a view to charging him with violating the weapons manufacturing law.
Yamagami allegedly committed the crime out of resentment toward the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, a controversial religious creed better known as the Unification Church or “Moon Sect,” with which he believed Abe had ties.
The detainee would have told investigators that his mother made years ago large donations to the group that would have led her to bankruptcy and destructured her family.
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