Trial of Shinzo Abe's Assassin May Begin in Oct.

   Nara, May 17 (Jiji Press)--The trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, charged with murdering former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2022, may begin this October, it has been learned.
   On Friday, Nara District Court presented the Nara District Public Prosecutors Office and Yamagami's lawyers with a proposal to hold the first hearing of his trial in late October, informed sources said.
   Yamagami, 44, is expected to admit in court that he intended to kill Abe, according to the sources.
   Abe was shot dead during a stump speech in the western Japan city of Nara in July 2022.
   A total of six pretrial conferences have been held on the case so far, and the seventh is scheduled for May 27.

(2025/05/17-19:25)