Unification Church confirms mother of suspected murderer Shinzo Abe is a member of the institution

A police investigation into the murder of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe led the head of the country’s Unification Church to confirm on Monday that the mother of the suspect in the case is a member of the church.

Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old unemployed man, was identified by police as the suspect who approached Abe and shot him during a campaign speech on Friday.

Yamagami believed the politician promoted a religious group to which his mother made a “huge donation”, Kyodo news agency reported, citing investigative sources.

The suspect told police that his mother subsequently went bankrupt, the Yomiuri newspaper and other media reported.

Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Japanese branch of the Federation of Families for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, confirmed to reporters in Tokyo that the suspect’s mother was a member of the church. He declined to comment on her donations.

Neither Abe nor the alleged killer were members, Tanaka added. Abe was not a church counselor either.

The Unification Church was founded in South Korea in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon, a self-declared messiah and strident anti-communist. The church gained global media attention for its mass weddings.

The institution’s affiliates include daily newspapers in South Korea, Japan and the United States. Moon ran a business empire and founded the conservative Washington Times.

Reuters was unable to contact Yamagami’s mother and could not determine whether she belonged to other religious organizations.

Abe, who held conservative views, appeared at an event hosted by a church affiliate in September last year and delivered a speech praising the affiliate’s work for peace on the Korean peninsula, according to the church’s website.

Critics have for years called the church a cult and questioned what they say are “dark finances.” The church rejects such views and says it is a legitimate religious movement.