Iwao Hakamata, a Japanese man who spent the longest time on death row in the world, was cleared in a retrial of the 1966 murders of four people. Hakamata, who spent 45 years on death row, was released in 2014 for a retrial due to doubts about the evidence in his case. On Thursday, the Shizuoka district court acquitted him, ending his family’s search for justice for a wrongful conviction.
Hakamata’s sister, Hideko Hakamata, expressed her relief and joy at the verdict, stating that she could not stop crying when the judge announced he was not guilty. Hakamata was initially found guilty of the murders in 1968 and sentenced to death, spending nearly five decades behind bars before being released for the retrial.
The retrial was based on evidence suggesting that Hakamata’s confession was fabricated by investigators, and DNA tests on bloodstained clothing did not match his blood. His lawyers argued that the evidence against him was flawed and wrongly convicted him.
Amnesty International praised the exoneration as a pivotal moment for justice and called for Japan to abolish the death penalty. The organization stated that Hakamata’s case was a recognition of the profound injustice he endured for most of his life and commended his family’s enduring fight to clear his name.
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