An unemployed Japanese man Tetsuya Yamagami, who shot and killed former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last summer, has been found sane as a result of a compulsory psychiatric examination carried out since last July. He was therefore transferred from a closed medical facility to Nara police prison, TBS television reported.

Yamagami is expected to face charges of murder and illegal possession of weapons by Jan. 13.

The former sailor killed former Prime Minister Abe, who was speaking at an election rally on a street in the city of Nara, southwest of Japan's main island of Honshu, last July 8, by shooting him in the back. Yamagami used a multi-barrelled firearm that he had made and thoroughly tested himself. The shooter was captured and arrested by the murdered politician's guards at the scene.

During interrogation, he stated that he killed the former prime minister because he was convinced of his ties to the religious organization Unification Church. His mother had been a fanatical supporter of this organization, had donated virtually her entire fortune to it, and had driven the family to bankruptcy. Subsequent investigations revealed that the Unification Church, which is accused of extorting large sums of money from followers, was in contact with many senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. The Unification Church is currently under investigation.