Japanese man granted retrial after 45 years on death row
Iwao Hakamada, 87, was convicted of four murders in 1968 but granted ‘temporary release’ in 2014 after new evidence emerged
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
Mon 13 Mar 2023 09.55 GMT
A court in Japan has granted a retrial to a man – thought to be the world’s longest-serving death row inmate – who was sentenced to hang for the murders of a family of four almost six decades ago.
The Tokyo high court ruled on Monday that Iwao Hakamada, 87, should be tried again for the crimes in a decision campaigners said was a “step towards justice”.
Hakamada was convicted of the murders in 1968 and spent 45 years on death row before new evidence led to his release in 2014. At the time of his release, he was thought to be the world’s longest-serving death row inmate.
The former boxer initially confessed to the murders but later retracted his confession and insisted he was innocent throughout his two-year trial. His death sentence was finalised in 1980.
Hakamada’s lawyers unfurled banners reading “retrial” after Monday’s ruling, while his sister, Hideko, expressed relief that decades of pressure had succeeded.
“I have waited 57 years for this day, and now it has arrived,” said the 90-year-old, who has campaigned to prove her brother’s innocence. “Finally a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”.
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