Japanese former boxer hails acquittal ‘victory’ after four decades on death row The world's longest-serving death row prisoner thanked his boosters for aiding him achieve "complete victory" after a Japanese court terminal week overturned his decades-old murder conviction.
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After a long fight for justice led by his sister, 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada was on Thursday held innocent of the quadruple murder that he spent 46 years on death row for.
"Finally I have prevailed full and complete victory," the former boxer announced to a group of protagonists on Sunday in Shizuoka, the region southwest of Tokyo where the ruling was issued.
"I couldn't wait any longer" to hear the not-guilty verdict, stated a smiling Hakamada, sporting a green hat.
"Thank you very much," he added, accompanied by his 91-year-old sister Hideko at the meeting, which was shown on Japanese television.
Japan and the United States are the only major industrialised democracies to retain capital punishment, which has broad back among the Japanese public.
Hakamada is the fifth death row inmate granted a retrial in Japan's post-war history. All four previous cases also resulted in exonerations.
Decades of detention – mostly in solitary captivity with the threat of execution constantly looming over him – have taken a toll on Hakamada's mental health.
His lawyer and boosters have described him as "living in a world of fantasy".
Hakamada was released in 2014 pending the retrial but rarely verbalises publicly.
Despite the retrial verdict, his acquittal isn't finalised – prosecutors reportedly have until October 10 to decide whether to appeal the Shizuoka District Court's ruling.
But they may face an uphill battle, as the court delivered a triumphing reprimand of the prosecution's arguments, disclosing that investigators fabricated key pieces of evidence.
Hakamada's initial confessions of having robbed and murdered his boss, the man's wife and their two teenage children were obtained through "inhumane" interrogations and mental and physical torture, making them invalid, the ruling said.
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Blood-stained clothes used to indict him were also ruled a set-up. The court stated investigators had put blood on them and planted them in a tank of miso fermented soybean paste to be discovered.
(AFP)
Category: World-News
Tag: Japanese former boxer hails acquittal victory after four decades on death row
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Published 9/30/2024