An 88-year-old Japanese man, Iwao Hakamada, was acquitted after 45 years on death row by the Shizuoka district.
Hakamada was convicted in 1966 of the murders of four individuals in central Japan. Hakamada, previously dubbed the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, experienced the culmination of a nearly six-decade-long quest for justice. His legal team announced his acquittal on Thursday, bringing an end to a wrongful conviction saga that has spanned nearly 60 years.
“It was sweet to hear the words ‘not guilty’ in the courtroom,” said Hideko Hakamada, Iwao’s sister, who has tirelessly worked to clear her brother’s name. Overwhelmed with emotion, she expressed her relief and joy at a televised briefing: “When I heard that, I was so moved and happy, I couldn’t stop crying.”
The case against Hakamada, a former boxer, included accusations of stabbing his former employer and the employer’s family to death and then setting their house on fire. Although he initially confessed to the murders, he later retracted his confession and maintained his innocence throughout his trial. Despite his pleas, he was sentenced to death in 1968, a decision that Japan’s Supreme Court upheld in 1980.
Doubts about the evidence led to Hakamada’s release and the order for a retrial in 2014. His legal team successfully argued that DNA tests on bloodstained clothing, purportedly belonging to Hakamada, revealed the blood was not his.
Amnesty International praised the acquittal as a “pivotal moment for justice” and called on Japan to abolish the death penalty. “After enduring almost half a century of wrongful imprisonment and a further 10 years waiting for his retrial, this verdict is an important recognition of the profound injustice he endured for most of his life,” Amnesty stated. “It ends an inspiring fight to clear his name.”
