Police in Nara, the Japanese city where former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead on Friday, have admitted that there were undeniable flaws in the security of the politician, who was killed while speaking at an election campaign.
“It is undeniable that there were problems with ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s escort and security measures; we will fully analyze the shortcomings and take appropriate measures,” said the head of the local department, Tomoaki Onizuka, on Saturday.
With virtually no history of armed violence over the past few decades, Japan has strict laws on access to weapons, and electoral campaign acts are not usually policed. Abe was 67 years old and the longest-serving prime minister in the country’s history.
Police also said, according to local media reports, that the suspect arrested for the murder said he believed Abe was linked to a religious group he blames for his mother’s bankruptcy, which made massive donations. So he planned an attack with a homemade weapon, which he assembled after buying parts online.
Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, was arrested shortly after shooting the former prime minister. According to police reports to channels such as broadcaster NHK, the man had planned to kill Abe with explosives before deciding to manufacture the weapon. He would have gone to other places where the politician participated in campaign acts, such as the city of Okayama.
Neighbors in Yamagami described him to Reuters as a reserved person. A 69-year-old woman who lived one floor below him and saw him three days before the murder said she tried to talk to him but was ignored. “He just looked at the floor, he looked nervous, like something was bothering him.”
Abe’s body arrived at the politician’s Tokyo home accompanied by security. In Nara, the city where the crime took place, dozens of people were lining up to place flowers next to a photograph of the former premier.
The country resumed the election campaign this Saturday, the last day before elections for the Upper House of Parliament. The current premier, Fumio Kishida, visited electoral districts. In the city of Fujiyoshida, where he passed, a metal detection scanner, unusual in events of this type in Japan, was installed. There was also strong policing.
More international leaders spoke out about Abe’s death. Chinese regime leader Xi Jinping said he deeply regretted the former premier’s sudden death. In a message addressed to Kishida, he said, echoing a statement given the day before by his country’s foreign ministry, that “I once reached an important consensus with him on building Sino-Japanese relations.”
US President Joe Biden also spoke in a phone conversation with the Japanese prime minister. “He expressed his outrage, sadness and deep condolences over the tragic and violent death of former Prime Minister Abe,” the White House said in a statement.
