In a landmark ruling on Thursday, a Japanese court acquitted the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner, Iwao Hakamada, over half a century after his 1968 murder conviction.
The Shizuoka District Court declared the 88-year-old not guilty in a retrial that was initiated by Hakamada and his supporters a decade ago. “The court finds the defendant innocent,” stated Judge Koshi Kunii.
Due to his fragile health, Hakamada was absent from the courtroom, but his 91-year-old sister, Hideko, who frequently speaks on his behalf, bowed deeply to the judge several times.
Prior to his release in 2014, while awaiting retrial, Iwao Hakamada had spent 46 years on death row after being convicted of murdering his boss, the boss’s wife, and their two teenage children. However, doubts about the integrity of the evidence and claims of coerced confessions raised serious concerns regarding Japan’s justice system, which critics argue effectively holds suspects as “hostages”.
A large crowd gathered outside the Shizuoka District Court in the morning, eager to witness the verdict in this high-profile case that has captured national attention.
Japan stands as one of the few major industrialised democracies, alongside the United States, that continues to uphold capital punishment, a policy that enjoys widespread public backing.
Hakamada is the fifth death row inmate to be granted a retrial in Japan’s post-war history, with all four previous cases leading to exoneration.