World’s longest-serving death row inmate acquitted in Japan
An 88-year-old man who is the world’s longest-serving death row inmate has been acquitted by a Japanese court, after it found that evidence used against him was fabricated.
Iwao Hakamada, who was on death row for almost half a century, was found guilty in 1968 of killing his boss, the man’s wife and their two teenage children.
He was recently granted a retrial amid suspicions that investigators may have planted evidence that led to his conviction for quadruple murder.
The 46 years spent on death row has taken a heavy toll on Hakamada’s mental health, though, meaning he was unfit to attend the hearing where his acquittal was finally handed down.
Hakamada’s case is one of Japan’s longest and most famous legal sagas, and has attracted widespread public interest, with some 500 people lining up for seats in the courtroom in Shizuoka on Thursday.
As the verdict was handed down, Hakamada’s supporters outside the court cheered “banzai” – a Japanese exclamation that means “hurray”.
Hakamada, who was exempted from all hearings due to his deteriorated mental state, has been living under the care of his 91-year-old sister Hideko since 2014, when he was freed from jail and granted a retrial.
She fought for decades to clear his name and said it was sweet to hear the words “not guilty” in court.
“When I heard that, I was so moved and happy, I couldn’t stop crying,” she told reporters.
Her brother has previously said his battle for justice was like “fighting a bout every day”. “Once you think you can’t win, there is no path to victory,” he told AFP news agency in 2018.
‘Bloodstained’ clothes in a tank of miso
A former professional boxer, Hakamada was working at a miso processing plant in 1966 when the bodies of his employer, the man’s wife and two children were recovered from a fire at their home in Shizuoka, west of Tokyo. All four had been stabbed to death.
Authorities accused Hakamada of murdering the family, setting fire to their home and stealing 200,000 yen in cash.
Hakamada initially denied having robbed and murdered the victims, but later gave what he came to describe as a coerced confession following beatings and interrogations that lasted up to 12 hours a day.
In 1968 he was convicted of murder and arson, and sentenced to death.
Read more on BBC
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