Entries tagged with “Iwao Hakamada

Innocence

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International

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Oct 01, 2024

Citing Misconduct, Japanese Court Formally Exonerates Iwao Hakamada of 1966 Murder After 46 Years on Death Row

On September 26, 2024, a Japanese court for­mal­ly acquit­ted 88-year-old Iwao Hakamada (pic­tured), who was wrong­ful­ly sen­tenced to death in 1968 for the mur­der of his for­mer boss and fam­i­ly in Shizuoka, Japan. After 46 years on death row, and anoth­er decade of lit­i­ga­tion, Judge Kunii Tsuneishi of the Shizuoka District Court ruled that blood-stained cloth­ing used to con­vict Mr. Hakamada was fab­ri­cat­ed long after the mur­ders. The court can­not accept the fact that the blood stain would remain…

Policy Issues

International

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Time on Death Row

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Mar 20, 2023

INTERNATIONAL: Longest Serving Death Row Prisoner in the World Has Case Reversed

On March 13, 2023 in Japan, Tokyo’s High Court grant­ed a retri­al for Iwao Hakamada, a for­mer box­er known as the longest serv­ing death row” pris­on­er in the world. He was con­vict­ed of mur­der in 1968. Hideaki Nakagawa, Director of Amnesty International Japan, described the rul­ing as a long-over­due chance to deliv­er some jus­tice to…