Japanese Police Arrest The Man Who Treated The 'You Next' Threat To A Candidate From The Liberal Democratic Party

Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash

JAKARTA - A man in Shizuoka Prefecture is accused of threatening to kill a candidate for the High Council in Nagano Prefecture. This incident came shortly after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot in Nara.

"You're next," said the suspect in a phone call to the Sanshiro Matsuyama campaign office, a candidate from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the Nagano Prefecture election, as quoted by flow Shimbun, Monday 11 July.

Matsuyama is a novice candidate. He has worked in the entertainment business for years in Nagano.

The first phone came around 11:50. It coincided with its viral attack on Abe in Nara during a campaign speech around 11:30 on July 8.

The second threat call came at around 12:25 p.m. Japanese time.

The police immediately detected the origin of the call. And it turns out that it came from Akira Uematsu (67)'s cellphone, a part-time employee who lives in Shizuoka city.

Nagano-Chuo Nagano Prefecture Police Station arrested Uematsu on July 9 on suspicion of intimidation. He has reportedly admitted the allegations.

When shot to death, Abe was in Nara City to deliver a Japanese speech for the high house election on Sunday.

Abe served two terms as prime minister to become Japan's longest-serving prime minister before stepping down in 2020 for poor health reasons.

But he still dominates the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), controlling one of its main factions.