By Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO (Reuters) -A man accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to go on trial on Tuesday, three years after the assassination of Japan’s longest-serving premier stunned a nation where gun crime and political violence are rare.
The trial opens the same day as two of Abe’s former allies, incumbent Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and visiting U.S. President Donald Trump, hold a summit.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, was arrested at the scene of the shooting in July 2022 after allegedly firing at Abe with a homemade gun while the former premier was giving a speech during an election campaign in the western Japanese city of Nara.
Yamagami blamed Abe for promoting the Unification Church, a religious group he held a grudge against after his mother donated to it some 100 million yen ($663,218), local media reported.
The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954. It is famous for its mass weddings and counts Japanese followers as a key source of income.
Having moved through pretrial conferences, Yamagami is set to admit to murder while disputing parts of the indictment related to violations of the Firearms and Swords Control Act and Ordnance Manufacturing Act, an official at the Nara District Court said.
The shooting was followed by revelations that more than a hundred lawmakers of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party had ties to the Unification Church, driving down public support for the ruling party, which is now led by Takaichi.
After Tuesday’s first court session, starting at 2 p.m. (0500 GMT), 17 more hearings are scheduled by year-end before a verdict on January 21.
($1 = 150.7800 yen)
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
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