Japan prosecutors won't appeal Hakamada death row acquittal: media

Agence France-Presse
October 8, 2024


Iwao Hakamada (L) is the fifth death row inmate granted a retrial in Japan's post-war history (STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP)

Japanese prosecutors have decided not to appeal against last month's acquittal of the world's longest-serving death row prisoner, Iwao Hakamada, local media reported Tuesday.

After a long fight for justice led by his sister, a court declared on September 27 that Hakamada, 88, was innocent of the quadruple murder for which he spent 46 years waiting to be executed.

The regional tribunal ruled that investigators had tampered with evidence and said the ex-boxer had suffered "inhumane interrogations meant to force a statement".

He was first convicted in 1968 of robbing and killing his boss, the man's wife and their two teenage children.

A retrial was granted in 2014 and Hakamada was released from prison, although legal wrangling meant the proceedings only began last year.

Japanese media, including broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, reported that prosecutors had decided not to appeal against the latest ruling, paving the way for it to be finalized.

The office of the public prosecutor declined to comment when contacted by AFP. A supporters group for Hakamada said they had no first-hand confirmation.

Japan and the United States are the only two major industrialized countries that still use capital punishment. It has strong public support in Japan, where scrapping it is rarely discussed.

Hakamada is the fifth death row inmate granted a retrial in Japan's post-war history. All four previous cases also resulted in exonerations.

Japan's last execution took place in July 2022, of a man who killed seven in a truck-ramming and stabbing rampage in Tokyo's popular Akihabara electronics district in 2008.

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