Pretrial Hearing for Alleged Abe Killer Cancelled over Suspicious Item

From Jiji 

June 12 2023

NARA – Nara District Court canceled Monday’s pretrial hearing for the suspect of the fatal shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after a suspicious cardboard box arrived at the court in western Japan on the day. 

After the box was checked with a metal detector, an official at the court in the city of Nara reported the incident to the police department of Nara Prefecture.

While people inside the court, including staff workers, were evacuated, the police department’s bomb disposal unit moved the box outside the court. The box was delivered to the court around 11:15 a.m. (2:15 a.m. GMT).

The pretrial hearing for Tetsuya Yamagami, 42, who faces charges including fatally shooting Abe in the city of Nara in July last year, was scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Monday. But the event was called off. Yamagami had indicated that he would attend the hearing, according to sources.

The court said that it decided to cancel the hearing because a potentially hazardous object was found and it was dealing with the incident. According to the police, the box is some 33 centimeters long, 28 centimeters wide and 26 centimeters high.