Unification Church in Japan says mother of Abe's assassin was a member

Tetsuya Yamagami, suspected of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is escorted by a police officer as he is taken to prosecutors, at Nara-nishi police station in Nara, western Japan on July 10, 2022. - Kyodo via Reuters

TOKYO (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): The Unification Church in Japan on Monday (July 11) said the mother of the gunman who last week assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe was a member of the church.

The gunman, Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, told police after the assassination that he had targeted Abe in his belief that the former PM was linked to a "religious group" that his mother had joined. Yamagami claimed that his mother paid the group exorbitant dues that left his family bankrupt and broken.