Iwao Hakamata, a Japanese man who spent over 40 years on death row before being acquitted last year, has been awarded $1.4 million in compensation. The Shizuoka District Court confirmed on Tuesday that Hakamata would receive more than 217 million yen—roughly $85 for each day of his wrongful conviction.
Hakamata, now 89, was sentenced to death in 1968 for a quadruple murder he has always maintained he did not commit. A former professional boxer, he was arrested in 1966 after his boss, his boss’s wife, and their two children were found stabbed to death at their home. Initially, Hakamata confessed, but he later retracted his statement, claiming police had beaten and coerced him into admitting to the crime. Despite these claims, he was found guilty in a controversial 2-1 court decision, with the dissenting judge resigning months later, unable to stop the sentencing.
His case remained stagnant for decades until new evidence surfaced. A 2014 ruling allowed his release while a retrial was being considered. Finally, a DNA test proved that the bloodstained clothing used as evidence against him had been planted long after the murders, leading to his acquittal in 2023. Hakamata’s prolonged imprisonment drew international attention to Japan’s legal system, where the conviction rate stands at 99%, and intensified calls to abolish the death penalty.
His legal representative, Hideyo Ogawa, acknowledged the historic nature of the compensation but argued it could never atone for the suffering Hakamata endured. His sister, Hideko, who fought for his freedom for years, noted that his mental health had severely deteriorated. She described him as living in his own world, struggling to recognize reality. Due to his fragile condition, they have not even discussed the trial with him.
Hakamata, once the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, spent more than half his life awaiting execution for a crime he did not commit. His case remains a chilling example of wrongful convictions and the irreversible damage they inflict.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0