NARA: Japanese authorities have found the man accused of killing former prime minister ABE Shinzo fit for trial after a lengthy psychiatric assessment, local media said Tuesday.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, was transferred to Nara-Nishi Police Station of the Nara prefectural police, the headquarters of the investigation, from the Osaka Detention House the same day.

A car carrying the suspect arrived at the police station, where some 100 members of the press were waiting, at around 3:10 p.m. (6:10 a.m. GMT). Yamagami, wearing a mask, glasses, a navy blue jacket and black pants, got out of the car and calmly entered the police station while surrounded by uniformed police officers.

The Nara District Public Prosecutors Office plans to indict Yamagami for murder and other charges by Friday, the last day of his detention period, based on the results of the evaluation to examine whether he is competent to take criminal responsibility.

Yamagami was arrested on murder charges at around 11:30 a.m. on July 8 last year, when he allegedly shot Abe from behind while the former prime minister was giving a campaign speech near Kintetsu Railway Co.’s Yamato-Saidaiji Station in the western Japan city of Nara.

Nara public prosecutors began the psychiatric evaluation on July 25 that year. The evaluation period was initially slated to last for four months through Nov. 29, but it was extended following a request from the prosecutors.

Yamagami has admitted to the charges, telling investigators that he had a grudge against the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church and that he thought Abe had links with the group.

The gun used in the shooting is believed to have been homemade, and several guns of different sizes and shapes were seized from the suspect’s home.

The prefectural police concluded after evaluations that the gun used can be deemed as a handgun under the swords and firearms control law. Police sent additional papers on Yamagami to prosecutors for the alleged violation of the law, on suspicion of possessing and using the weapon and live ammunition.

Police will also consider whether to send papers on him to prosecutors over charges of violating the ordnance manufacturing law and the explosives control law, as well as for the building damage after Yamagami shot at a building in the city of Nara where a Unification Church-related facility was located.

JIJI Press