Japan Frees World’s Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate; Likely Innocent

On March 27, a court in Japan sus­pend­ed the death sen­tence and ordered the release and retri­al of Iwao Hakamada, who had been impris­oned for 48 years, most­ly on death row. The 78-year-old man is the world’s longest-serv­ing death row inmate. Presiding judge Hiroaki Murayama said, ​“It is unbear­ably unjust to pro­long deten­tion of the defen­dant any fur­ther. The pos­si­bil­i­ty of his inno­cence has become clear to a respectable degree.” Hakamada was con­vict­ed of the 1966 mur­der of the fam­i­ly for whom he was a live-in employ­ee, but the court said new DNA evi­dence sug­gest­ed inves­ti­ga­tors fab­ri­cat­ed evi­dence. Clothing that inves­ti­ga­tors said the cul­prit was wear­ing did not fit Hakamada, and was stained with blood that did not match his DNA.

Hakamada is only the 6^th Japanese death row inmate to receive a retri­al since World War II.

(M. Yamaguchi, ​“Japan Frees World’s Longest-Held Death Row Inmate,” Associated Press, March 27, 2014. Photo: Reuters). See International, Innocence and Time on Death Row.