TE24 International Desk:
The family of the slain and friends of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gathered at a temple in Tokyo on Tuesday, and outside mourners accused the leader of “secret” murder.
Prime Minister Abe was shot dead at close range during a campaign speech in Nara City on Friday, just days before the ruling party came to power.
The killer, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, was arrested and told police he targeted Abe because politicians believed he had something to do with an opposition organization.
The funeral was only for family and close friends, but a long line of black cloth landed at the Jujuji Temple in honor of Japan’s longest-serving prime minister.
“I’m here to bloom and pray because I can’t overcome my grief,” 41-year-old adviser Yoshikawa told AFP. “Strengthen Japan’s Presence.” On the world stage.
“It’s cool,” said Yuko Takehisa, a 51-year-old assistant who lives in Kanagawa Prefecture near Tokyo.
“We could have done more to prevent this,” he said, adding that “no one” had reported Yamagami to police, although there had been reports of home-made gunfire before the attack. I complained.
Satoshi Ninyu, chairman of the National Public Security Commission, a minister who is overseeing the national police, and promised a full review of security deficiencies on Tuesday.
Local police have already admitted flaws in the surveillance program of a prominent politician who was shot in the back during the day.
Police searched the suspect’s home and found shotguns and other possible parts needed to make weapons, such as crude oil weapons used in the attack, Japanese media reported Tuesday. Paddy fields.
– Message of condolence –
Yamagami, who spent three years in the Japanese navy, told investigators that a large grant to his mother’s religious group had caused financial problems for his family.
He said Monday that the Unification Church, a global religious movement founded in South Korea in the 1950s, was a member of Yamagami’s mother, but he did not comment on any donations. Was not.
Abe’s assassination has caused a flood of grief, anger and sympathy in Japan and around the world.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday that he had received more than 1,700 letters of condolence from 259 countries, regions and international organizations.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in honor of Prime Minister Aber, stopped in Tokyo, which was previously unplanned, and described him as a “visionary.”
According to Taiwanese media reports, Taiwan Vice President William Lao was on a surprise visit to Tokyo.
The visit may offend Beijing, but Mr Hayashi said Lai was traveling in a private location and that Japan’s policy of cooperating in private relations with Taiwan has not changed.
After the funeral on Tuesday, the body of Prime Minister Aber will pass through several political landmarks in Tokyo, including the Prime Minister’s Office (Kantei), Diet and Diet.
The public memorial service will be held at a later date, suggesting that senior foreign politicians may be present, but details have not yet been announced. Born into politics, Prime Minister Abe became the youngest prime minister since the war when he first came to power in 2006 at the age of 52.
After health problems, he resigned in 2020 at the end of his second term. His fierce nationalist outlook, especially his desire for pacifist constitutional reform, was divisive, and he overcame multiple scandals, including claims of nepotism.
However, he has sought to keep Japan firmly on the world stage, including his economic strategy called “Abenomics” and building closer ties with former US President Donald Trump than others. Is acclaimed.
