A Japanese court on Monday (March 13) ordered the review of the trial of an 87-year-old man considered to be the oldest death row inmate in the world, nearly sixty years after his conviction for murder.
“ I’ve waited 57 years for this day and it has come “, welcomed the sister of Iwao Hakamada, herself 90 years old. Her brother spent more than four decades on death row after he was sentenced to death in 1968 for the quadruple murder of his boss and three family members. He had confessed to the crime after weeks of questioning in detention, before recanting. He has since maintained his innocence, but the sentence was confirmed in 1980.
This former boxer was released in 2014, a court having admitted doubts about his guilt based on DNA tests and having decided to offer him a new trial. But in 2018, a new twist: on appeal from the prosecution, the Tokyo High Court questioned the reliability of DNA tests and canceled the 2014 decision, without Iwao Hakamada being sent back to prison.
The Japanese Supreme Court then quashed at the end of 2020 the decision that prevented Iwao Hakamada from being tried again in an attempt to obtain his acquittal, news that his sister Hideko then welcomed as ” Christmas gift “.
” Reasonable doubt »
The prosecution case relied heavily on bloodied clothing, which emerged more than a year after the crime. But according to his supporters, these were not his size and the bloodstains were too recent to be linked to the murders. “ There is no evidence other than the clothing to identify Mr. Hakamada as the perpetrator, and it is clear that there is a reasonable doubt. of his guilt, Tokyo High Court President Fumio Daizen was quoted by state broadcaster NHK as saying on Monday.
Japan is, with the United States, one of the last industrialized and democratic countries to still resort to the death penalty, to which the Japanese public opinion is largely favourable. Those close to Mr. Hakamada highlight the psychological scars left on him by more than four decades in a cell, fearing his execution by hanging every day.
Amnesty International hailed Monday’s decision as a ” long overdue opportunity to deliver justice “. ” Mr. Hakamada’s conviction was based on a coerced “confession” and the other evidence against him raises serious doubts », declared Hideaki Nakagawa, director of the Japanese branch of this NGO.
The prosecutors ” should not appeal today’s decision “, not to “ prolonging the impasse in which Mr. Hakamada has found himself since his “temporary release” nine years ago “, he added. “ They must allow this new trial to take place as long as Mr. Hakamada is still able to participate in it. “, he still estimated.
(With AFP)