Iwao Hakamada
Source: Africa Publicity
Iwao Hakamada, 89, a former Japanese professional boxer, was awarded $1.4 million in compensation by the Shizuoka District Court in Japan on Tuesday for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment. Hakamada spent 46 years on death row for a quadruple murder he did not commit.
“I think the state (government) has made a mistake that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen,” said Hideyo Ogawa, Hakamada’s legal representative, referring to the compensation amount.
Hakamada was convicted in 1968 based on fabricated evidence, including bloodstained clothing that was later found to have been planted. He was acquitted last year after a DNA test proved his innocence.
About the case
Hakamata reportedly retired as a professional boxer in 1961 and got a job at a soybean processing plant in Shizuoka, central Japan.
However, after five years,
he was arrested by police after his boss, his boss’ wife and their two children were found stabbed to death in their home.
Hakamata initially admitted to the charges against him, but later changed his plea, accusing police of forcing him to confess by beating and threatening him.
He was sentenced to death in a 2-1 decision by judges in 1968.
The one dissenting judge stepped down from the bar six months later, demoralized by his inability to stop the sentencing.
Hakamata, who has maintained his innocence ever since, would go on to spend more than half his life waiting to be hanged.
New evidence led to his release in 2014 pending a retrial, which acquitted him last year.
The case brought international attention to Japan’s criminal justice system, which has a 99% conviction rate, and sparked calls to abolish the death penalty in the country.
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