World's longest-serving death-row inmate gets reprieve from Japan court

Iwao Hakamada (87), a former Japanese boxer and world's longest-serving death row inmate got a reprieve as Tokyo's High Court ordered a retrial in a case that found him guilty of murder of four. On Monday (March 13) lawyers ofIwao Hakamada left the court after the session and unfurled banners reading "retrial" as supporters shouted "Free Hakamada now!". The former boxer has served five decades on the death row.

"I was waiting for this day for 57 years and it has come," said Hakamada's sister Hideko, 90, who has campaigned tirelessly on her brother's behalf.

"Finally a weight has been lifted from my shoulders," she said.

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Hakamada was sentenced to death in 1969 for robbing and murdering his boss, the man's wife and their two children.

He initially denied the accusations but later confessed after what he subsequently claimed was a brutal police interrogation that included beatings.

His attempts to retract the confession were in vain and his verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1980.

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After a prolonged battle, a district court in the central city of Shizuoka granted a retrial in 2014, finding investigators could have planted evidence.

But Tokyo's High Court overturned the lower court ruling four years later, and the case was sent to the Supreme Court on appeal.
There, judges ruled in 2020 that the Tokyo High Court must reconsider its decision.

(With inputs from agencies)

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