World’s longest serving death row inmate acquitted

The world’s longest-serving death row inmate has been acquitted in a retrial for a 1966 quadruple murder.

Japan’s Shizuoka District Court cleared Iwao Hakamada, an 88-year-old former boxer, in a retrial on Thursday, marking a monumental reversal of a conviction that had kept him on death row for nearly half a century.

Hakamada was convicted in 1968 for the murder of a company manager and his family members.

His conviction was based largely on a confession obtained during a violent police interrogation and questionable forensic evidence.

Sentenced to death, Hakamada spent more than 45 years awaiting execution.

Ongoing legal battles and appeals, led primarily by his now 91 year old sister Hideko, finally culminated in the retrial and acquittal that may prompt renewed scrutiny of Japan’s criminal justice system.

Presiding Judge Koshi Kunii acknowledged major flaws in the prosecution’s case.

Hakamada’s legal team said the court acknowledged multiple fabrications of evidence and reinforced that their client was not the culprit.

Central to the defense was the revelation that the bloodstained clothing, a key piece of evidence in the original trial, had been manipulated.

Lab tests presented by the defense demonstrated that blood could not remain visible on clothing submerged in miso for over a year, as had been claimed by the investigators.

“I have nothing to do with the case [ …] I am innocent,” Hakamada wrote in his letter to his mother while on trial in 1967.

“When I go to sleep in soundless solitary cell every night, I sometimes cannot help cursing God. I have not done anything wrong,” he wrote to his family.

“What a cold-blooded act to give me such cruelty. We don’t need such God. I’m tempted to shout this to God.”

It took 27 years for Japan’s top court to reject Hakamada’s first appeal for a retrial. His second appeal, filed in 2008, came through the tireless campaigning of his older sister.

Hakamada was eventually released from prison in 2014, however his conviction had not yet been overturned.

Hakamada, whose Christian name is Paulo, was invited to a Mass in Tokyo during Pope Francis‘ visit in 2019, five years into his retrial release.

Japan’s death penalty system is one of the world’s strictest: 99% conviction rates, coerced confessions, and lengthy solitary confinement are reported.

It remains one of only two G7 nations, alongside the U.S., that continues to uphold the death penalty, despite diplomatic pressures for its abolishment.

Hakamada’s exoneration makes him the fifth death row inmate to be found not guilty in a retrial in Japan’s postwar era.

Human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have long criticized Japan’s justice system for its harsh treatment of suspects and its low threshold for admitting retrials.

Despite his decade-long release, Hakamada was not officially acquitted until this week, his age and frail health rendering him a low flight risk.

Over the years, Hakamada’s prolonged imprisonment had taken a significant toll on his mental and physical health, exacerbated by decades spent in solitary confinement, during which he lived in fear of execution.

Executions in the country are carried out in secrecy, with prisoners informed only hours before they are hanged.

His sister Hideko was instrumental in her brother’s fight for freedom, dedicating over 50 years of her life to proving his innocence.

After the ruling, Hideko emerged from the courtroom to applause, holding two bouquets of flowers.

“Thank you everyone, (the victory) is thanks to your support,” she said, visibly moved by the long-sought acquittal.

Though the prosecutors could technically appeal the acquittal, Hakamada’s legal team is pushing to prevent any further challenges.

“I believe this ruling puts an end to the case,” said Ogawa, Hakamada’s lawyer.

“Now we must prevent prosecutors from appealing no matter what.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press