Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s alleged killer accuses the Church of forcing his mother into bankruptcy. Abe himself had no affiliations with the Church.
The Unification Church, a religious organization that has come under the limelight since the murder of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, will be the subject of a government investigation, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Monday.
A probe into Abe’s murder has uncovered connections between the Unification Church and the country’s conservative ruling Liberal Demoratic Party (LDP). However, Abe had no direct connections to the disputed Church.
Resentment toward the religious group, which has been accused of bullying members into making hefty donations, reportedly drove the man accused of killing Abe.
People are upset that the Liberal Democratic Party hasn’t completely disclosed its connections to the Church, and as a result, support for the administration of current Prime Minister Kishida has decreased to its lowest point since he entered office last year.
What is the link between the man accused of shooting Abe and the Church?
A police investigation into the assassination of Abe in July revealed that the mother of the accused has been a longtime member of the Church.
The accused believed that Abe had promoted the Church to which his mother made huge donations.
Keiko Nagaoka, the minister for education and culture, said Prime Minister Kishida had ordered her to look into the matter. “I will begin immediately,” she said on Monday.
Japanese local media reported that the probe would examine whether the Church harmed public welfare or committed acts at odds with its status as a religious group.
The investigation could lead to a dissolution order under Japan’s religious corporation’s law, which could see the Church lose its status as an organization exempt from paying taxes. But even if that were the case, the Church could still continue to operate.
Abe was shot from behind with a homemade gun in the western city of Nara on July 8, while delivering a campaign speech two days before a parliamentary election.
