The mother of the man accused of fatally shooting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has apologized to police, investigative sources told The Yomiuri Shimbun.
"I am sorry that my son caused this terrible incident," the mother of 41-year-old suspect Tetsuya Yamagami was quoted as telling the Nara prefectural police and others.
She is believed to have donated a total of 100 million yen to the religious group Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and is currently being questioned by the police and other authorities about the details.
According to sources, she has not made comments critical of the group, widely known as the Unification Church, during questioning.
The suspect has told the police that his mother donated large sums to the group and was subsequently declared bankrupt.
He told the police that he initially wanted to target the group's leader but did not have an opportunity to get close enough to stage an attack.
Yamagami also told the police he "believed Abe had ties to the group."
Yamagami's mother joined the religious group around 1998 and soon after sold land she had inherited and the family house in Nara. She continued making donations to the group even after she had been declared bankrupt in 2002.
The religious group released a statement Wednesday claiming "50 million yen had been refunded to [Yamagami's] mother over 10 years from 2005 to 2014." The group said it is still confirming the total amount that she donated.
A collection of quotes by Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon includes one urging followers to make contributions even if it costs them their lives or their fortunes. The group's followers are urged to donate one-tenth of their earnings. "In reality, though, followers ended up donating more than that, entire fortunes in many cases," said Rissho University Prof. Kimiaki Nishida, who interviewed followers in the 1990s for research purposes.
'It's heartbreaking'
A man who knows the family of the suspect said the family had financial difficulties after his mother joined the religious group.
According to the man, Yamagami's father died suddenly when the suspect was young, and the family home was sold after the mother joined the group. The man told The Yomiuri Shimbun that he last saw Yamagami about seven years ago when the suspect's older brother died. "Why did my brother have to die?" Yamagami said in tears at the funeral, according to the man.
"Yamagami was fond of his mother, but after she joined the group, they drifted apart," the man said. "It's heartbreaking."
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
