Japan acquits longest-serving prisoner on death row

The world’s longest-serving death row prisoner, Iwao Hakamada, was acquitted on Thursday, over 50 years after his murder conviction, as a Japanese court ruled that evidence had been fabricated.

Hakamada, an 88-year-old former boxer in poor health, was unable to attend the court hearing. His retrial had been granted a decade ago following years of efforts by supporters. However, his 91-year-old sister, Hideko, who often represents him, bowed deeply to the Shizuoka District Court judge as he declared Hakamada innocent.

Hakamada had been on death row for 46 years after his 1968 conviction for the murder of his boss, the boss’s wife, and their two teenage children.

The court ruled that investigators had tampered with evidence by infecting clothes with blood and hiding them in a tank of miso (fermented soybean paste). The ruling also condemned the use of “inhumane interrogations” that inflicted mental and physical pain to force a confession.

It further criticized the prosecution’s records, stating they violated Hakamada’s right to remain silent, creating conditions that likely led to a false confession.

Hundreds gathered early in the morning to secure seats in the courtroom for the verdict in this long-running case that has drawn attention to Japan’s justice system.

Before the ruling, Hideko told reporters she had urged prosecutors not to prolong the fight until she turned 100. Wearing a white jacket, she explained that she deliberately chose not to wear dark colors, hinting that her attire symbolized her brother’s innocence.

‘A bout every day’

Japan is the only major industrialized democracy, besides the United States, that still enforces capital punishment, a policy widely supported by the public.

Iwao Hakamada is the fifth death row inmate in Japan’s post-war history to be granted a retrial. All four previous cases also resulted in acquittals.

Hakamada’s lead lawyer, Hideyo Ogawa, noted that after decades of detention, mostly in solitary confinement, Hakamada sometimes appears to “live in a world of fantasy.” In 2018, Hakamada described his struggle for freedom, saying he felt like he was “fighting a bout every day” and that believing in victory was the only way to achieve it.

Following the court’s decision, Japanese media reported that his supporters had removed the batteries from his TV remote so he wouldn’t see the verdict live. His sister, Hideko, mentioned she planned to tell him the news at the right time.

After the ruling, Hakamada was seen leaving his home for a walk, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a green hat.

‘Hostage justice’

The Supreme Court upheld Iwao Hakamada’s death sentence in 1980, but his supporters continued fighting for decades to reopen the case.

In 2014, a breakthrough occurred when a retrial was granted, and Hakamada was released from prison. However, legal delays, including resistance from prosecutors, meant the retrial didn’t begin until last year.

Hakamada had initially denied committing the 1966 robbery and murders but later confessed after what he described as a violent police interrogation, including beatings.

Outside the court, supporter Atsushi Zukeran, wearing a “Free Hakamada Now” T-shirt, said the case highlighted the need for reform in Japan’s criminal justice system.

Teppei Kasai, a Human Rights Watch representative, called Hakamada’s case an example of Japan’s “hostage justice” system. Amnesty International expressed joy at the verdict, stating it recognized the grave injustice Hakamada had faced for nearly 50 years. Boram Jang, the group’s East Asia researcher, emphasized that this decision acknowledged the suffering Hakamada had endured throughout his wrongful imprisonment and the long wait for his retrial.