Late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was neither a member nor an adviser of the religious group previously known as the Unification Church, but had sent messages to events hosted by a related organization, the group's Japan branch said Monday.
Tomihiro Tanaka, president of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification's Japan branch, held a press conference after the suspect in Abe's shooting death gave a statement to police that he had a grudge against the religious group, which he said had caused his family financial harm.
