The detainee for the murder of Shinzo Abe will be examined to determine his mental fitness

The Nara District Court has approved the detention of the man accused of shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe until November 29 to examine his mental fitness, as reported by the news agency Kyodo News.

This move by the prosecution in relation to Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, comes amid expectations that questions regarding the criminal responsibility of the shooter will form a significant part of the upcoming trial.

Although prosecutors are keeping the suspect in custody for a psychiatric evaluation to check if he was mentally competent at the time of the attack and increase his chances of success in the prosecution, his defense could request one after the indictment, which would lengthen the process. prior to trial.

Yamagami is being investigated for murder after Abe was shot while making a campaign speech on July 8. He was arrested on the spot.

The Penal Code states that people with impaired capacity are subject to reduced sentences, while no one whose acts are attributed to insanity can be punished.

Yamagami has told investigators that he had a grudge against the Unification Church, a religious group known for its mass weddings, and that he attacked Abe because he thought the former prime minister had ties to it, according to investigative sources.

Japan’s defense minister enlisted the help of the Unification Church in the last election

His uncle has told reporters that his mother donated large sums of money to the church – formally known as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification – and that it subsequently went bankrupt in 2002, bankrupting the family.

Yamagami’s defense is expected to build its arguments around whether he can be held responsible for his actions or to what extent he was mentally competent, as there is a leap of imagination from having animosity towards the church to targeting Abe.

Objectively determining a defendant’s state of mind when a crime is committed is difficult and can be affected by factors such as the experience of the examiner.

An examination requested by the defense could also produce a result that contradicts that of the prosecution.

In another development, investigative sources said Saturday that investigators plan to examine the lethality of homemade weapons seized from Yamagami’s residence.

If the lethality of the weapons, including the one used in the shooting, is confirmed, authorities will study the possibility of creating an additional case based on the firearms control law and the artifact manufacturing law, the sources said.

Including unfinished weapons, police seized seven firearms from Yamagami’s home, including a triple-barreled pistol.

The shotgun-like weapon found at the scene of the shooting consisted of two metal tubes taped together and could fire six projectiles from each tube at once.

Yamagami has told investigators that he originally thought about making a bomb, but decided against it because it would affect people outside of himself. Instead, he made weapons that he “could easily lock onto a target.”