Man pleads guilty to killing former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

Photo: REUTERS, photo editor: Serikzhan Kovlanbayev

Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, has pleaded guilty to the killing of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the first day of his trial in Tokyo, the BBC reported.

Yamagami told the court that «everything is true,» confirming his role in the 2022 attack on Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. Abe was fatally wounded with a homemade firearm during a political campaign event in Nara and later died in the hospital.

Investigators said Yamagami targeted Abe because he blamed him for promoting the Unification Church, which he claimed had financially devastated his family through large donations made by his mother.

The trial, which also includes charges related to arms control violations, is expected to conclude by January.