Slain Ex-PM Abe’s Wife Attends Attacker’s Trial for 1st Time

Nara, Dec. 3 (Jiji Press)–The wife of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, who is charged with murdering Abe, for the first time on Wednesday. The wife, Akie, sat behind prosecutors and listened to the 13th court hearing of the lay judge trial at Nara District Court, using a system for victims’ participation in trials. She did not ask questions herself. She entered the courtroom at 1 p.m. wearing a black jacket with a blue ribbon badge, which is a symbol of efforts to rescue Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago. After taking the witness stand for questioning at around 3 p.m., Yamagami, 45, bowed deeply to Akie, and she bowed slightly. During the hearing, prosecutors asked the defendant about why he changed his target from leaders of the Unification Church, which he reportedly held a grudge against, to the former prime minister. Yamagami said that he believed his purpose in life was to get back at the religious group, and that Abe was not his primary target. However, he added that he rushed to attack Abe, because he might become financially distressed if Unification Church leaders did not come to Japan soon. The defendant also said that the time and energy he spent making homemade guns would have been in vain if he did not use them. Yamagami is on trial for killing the former prime minister with a homemade gun in the western city of Nara in 2022. The victim participation system allows victims and bereaved families in major incidents to participate in criminal trials. They can directly ask witnesses and defendants questions and express their opinions on the severity of sentences. During a court hearing last month, the prosecution read Akie’s statement about her feelings about a year after her husband’s death. “The sorrow of losing a husband will not be relieved,” she said in the statement. “I just wanted my husband to stay alive.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]