Prosecutors in Japan have indicted the suspect in the shooting death of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

Yamagami Tetsuya was arrested in July last year after he shot Abe while he was making an election campaign speech in the western prefecture of Nara.

Yamagami said he did it because he believed Abe had close ties with the religious group better known by its former name, the Unification Church. He claimed his mother donated large sums of money to the group, which left his family in financial ruin.

Prosecutors concluded that Yamagami is mentally fit to stand trial. They based their assessment on the results of a psychiatric evaluation and factors such as his ability to make homemade guns and his alleged careful preparation for the attack. The case is to be heard in a lay judge trial.