An elderly man of 88 years, thought to be the longest-serving death row inmate globally, has been cleared of all charges by a regional court in Japan this past Thursday. This exoneration occurs 44 years on from his original death sentence.
Iwao Hakamada, the man in question, was initially found guilty of committing four murders in 1966. The conviction was primarily based on what his lawyers allege was an elicited confession and manufactured evidence. In 1980, the Supreme Court in Japan handed him a death sentence. Hakamada was discharged ten years prior and granted a retrial, which came into effect last year.
Previously a featherweight boxer, Hakamada maintained over time that his admission of guilt was obtained following 20 days of intense police interrogation, which involved physical assault and sleep deprivation. He soon retracted his admission after first stating it.
Hiroaki Murayama, a lawyer who in his capacity as a judge in 2014, released Hakamada and called for a retrial, expressed relief at the ruling of innocence, questioning the lengthy process.
During a court appearance on Thursday, Hideyo Ogawa, a representative lawyer for Hakamada, commented that the exoneration was a “landmark decision.” He further declared that the court had explicitly stated the original conviction was based on falsified evidence.
This acquittal marks the fifth time a death row convict has been exonerated in the postwar era in Japan.
A decade ago, lawyers representing Hakamada successfully secured a retrial and his release after tests indicated his DNA wasn’t present on the bloody clothing used as evidence by the police.
When the Shizuoka District Court approved a retrial for Hakamada in 2014, the Tokyo High Court negated this decision, opting not to revisit the case. However, in 2020, the Supreme Court overruled this, endorsing the district court’s decision and ordering a new trial.
The Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan’s primary daily newspapers, reported that Hakamada’s sister gave evidence at the court hearings, testifying to her brother’s deteriorating mental state.
The prosecution is now tasked with deciding whether to contest the ruling from Shizuoka court.
Hakamada’s case has piqued the interest of international human rights advocates.
Boram Jang, a researcher for Amnesty International’s East Asia, acknowledged on Thursday the gravity of the long-overdue verdict. The individual in question notably suffered a grievous miscarriage of justice, having spent nearly fifty years in erroneous incarceration followed by an agonising decade of anticipation for a retrial. This acknowledgement serves as a powerful vindication for the majority of his life spent wrongfully. This comment was initially reported in The New York Times. The piece is a product of The New York Times Company, published in 2024.