It’s been three years since the shocking assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — and yet, the trial of the 44-year-old man accused of the crime still hasn’t begun.

Tetsuya Yamagami is charged with fatally shooting Abe in broad daylight in Nara while he was giving a stump speech for an Upper House election candidate on July 8, 2022.

He believed that the former prime minister had strong ties with the Unification Church — a controversial religious group — that allegedly caused financial ruin for him and his family.