Japan PM Orders Probe Into Church After Abe Killing

Japan’s Prime minister has ordered an inquiry into the Unification Church. a religious group that has come under the spotlight after the assassination of former leader Shinzo Abe.

The man accused of killing him said the church has bankrupted his mother and blamed Abe for allegedly promoting it.

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Scrutiny of the religious sect in the weeks following then revealed it had ties with many government lawmakers. The scandal forced leader Fumio Kishida to apologize for those links.

On Monday, he conceded to holding a government investigation into the church after previously resisting calls for such a probe. He said he was “taking seriously” accusations the church had ruined families and exploited its followers for money.

The church has previously said it been unfairly vilified over the Abe shooting which it condemned.

Several lawsuits have been brought against it by previous followers of the church. Mr Kishida acknowledged the church’s “many victims” and said “efforts to help them are still insufficient.”

Political commentators locally characterised Mr Kishida’s announcement as a bid to win back public trust. His voter approval rating has plummed in the past months, as news emerged of his party’s connections to the church.

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An internal investigation by the Liberal Democratic Party – of which Kishida is head – found that 179 of its 379 lawmakers had interacted with the Unification Church.

Following the report, Mr Kishida apologized and said he had asked his party’s lawmakers to cut all ties with the sect. He also stressed he had no personal connections to the group.