The trial of a man indicted for killing former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, allegedly due to a grudge against the Unification Church, will begin next week, three years after the shooting shed light on the church’s links to politicians.

Tetsuya Yamagami, 45, is expected to plead guilty to the murder of Abe, post-war Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, with his defence team likely to call for leniency, saying his upbringing was marked by “religious abuse”, according to sources close to the matter.

The trial at the Nara District Court is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and conclude on December 18, with a ruling expected on January 21. A total of 12 witnesses will testify, the court said.

Yamagami is accused of fatally shooting Abe with a handmade firearm during an election stump speech by the late premier in the western Japanese city of Nara on July 8, 2022, according to the indictment and other sources.

Yamagami has told investigators that he held a grudge against the Unification Church because of the financial ruin his family suffered as a result of the massive donations, likely of around 100 million yen (US$650,000), that his mother made to the group.

He targeted Abe because Abe’s grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, helped introduce the group to Japan from South Korea, investigative sources said earlier.