Prisoner was acquitted in Japan after more than 40 years of serving a death sentence

A former prisoner in Japan is getting a fresh start after more than 40 years in prison. On Thursday (September 26), Iwao Hakamada won his retrial for quadruple murder. He is 88 years old.

This is why the court acquitted the death row prisoner

According to BBCA Japanese court has kept him behind bars after finding him guilty of murdering a miso factory owner, the man’s wife and their two teenagers. The family died at home from stab wounds and their house burned down. Prosecutors charged Iwao with murder, arson and theft of about $1,400 in cash (200,000 Japanese Yen).

Many international media agencies have stated that Iwao holds the world record for the longest-serving death row prisoner – a total of 46 years. To set the scene, he was charged with murdering his family in 1966 and convicted in 1968. However, oOfficials did not finalize the death sentence until 1980. He initially maintained his innocence but later gave what he called a forced confession. The confession came after beatings and interrogations that allegedly lasted up to 12 hours a day.

Legally, it took a hot minute for the case to be acquitted. He was first retried in 2014 after the court suspected that investigators may have fabricated “key evidence” linking him to the murder. The proceedings took nearly a decade to begin in October 2023. According to reports, 15 hearings ultimately took place, leading to the death row inmate’s acquittal.

Where is Iwao Hakamada now?

Iwao’s years on death row are said to have affected his mental health. He has been cared for by his 91-year-old sister Hideko since the court approved his retrial in 2014. At the time, Judge Hiroaki Murayama ruled that Iwao’s detention for as long as possible The possibility that he is innocent is very “unfair”.

Hideko, who has long supported her brother’s innocence, said she could not hold back her tears after hearing the “not guilty” news. Meanwhile, BBC reported that he could not attend the acquittal hearing due to health reasons.

The case caused a major stir in the Asian country in the late 1960s and continues to attract widespread attention. The BBC reported that about 500 people lined up to get a place in Thursday’s trial. However, Iwao’s victory is rare in Japan, where retrials are difficult for death row inmates. The BBC reported that only four other people have been granted retrials in the country’s post-war history.

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