September 26, 2024
[Statement from Japan Branch]
Country/Region: Japan
Topic: Abolition of the Death Penalty
Today, September 26, the Shizuoka District Court finally issued a judgment of acquittal after retrial for Iwao Hakamada, who had been arrested for 58 years. Amnesty International Japan welcomes this decision and strongly urges the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutor’s Office not to appeal.
This judgment, issued after 58 years of arrest, 44 years since the death penalty was finalized, and 15 hearings since the start of the retrial in October 2023, marks a victory for Iwao Hakamada (88 years old), who has consistently fought to prove his innocence, as well as for his sister Hideko and all domestic and international supporters who stood by him.
However, it cannot recover the enormous time that Mr. Hakamada lost due to his arrest and death sentence, and he will continue to struggle with the effects of long-term confinement caused by being deprived of freedom in prison.
With this, Mr. Hakamada becomes the fifth person to receive a not guilty verdict after a finalized death sentence, but we must never allow such a cruel mistake of the Japanese judicial system to be repeated.
Amnesty International Japan urges the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutor’s Office to prioritize Mr. Hakamada’s human rights and refrain from an appeal. Furthermore, we immediately call on the Japanese government to abolish the death penalty system that has caused irreversible human rights violations, robbing lives for half a century. Simultaneously, we demand a halt to executions until abolition is achieved, as well as a review of the sentences of death row inmates with concerns over mental or intellectual disabilities and reforms of Japan’s criminal justice system.
September 26, 2024
Amnesty International Japan
Background Information
Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada was incarcerated for 47 years after receiving a death sentence in 1968 until his release in March 2014. This was the longest imprisonment for a death row inmate in the world. Mr. Hakamada was arrested in 1966 on suspicion of murdering four members of the family of the miso manufacturing company where he worked and was sentenced to death. This case raised concerns about the fairness of the interrogation process and the credibility of the evidence. Mr. Hakamada underwent 20 days of intense police interrogation without the presence of a lawyer, during which he “confessed,” but later retracted this confession in court, claiming it was obtained through violence and coercion.
In 2008, after a second request for retrial, the prosecution disclosed over 600 pieces of evidence in response to the court’s request; among them were items that cast doubt on the credibility of the original evidence. In March 2014, the Shizuoka District Court pointed out suspicions of evidence fabrication and suggested the possibility of acquittal, deciding to start a retrial and release him, stating that further detention was “intolerably unjust.” However, the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately appealed against this decision, and during the appeal hearing in June 2018, the Tokyo High Court revoked the district court’s decision to start a retrial. In response to a special appeal by the defense regarding this ruling, the Supreme Court, which handled the appeal hearing, sent the case back to the high court in December 2020, citing insufficient hearings. On March 13, 2023, the Tokyo High Court supported the 2014 decision of the Shizuoka District Court to begin a retrial and rejected the prosecutor’s immediate appeal. With no further special appeals from the prosecution, the decision to begin a retrial was finalized.
Finally, on October 27, 2023, the Shizuoka District Court began the retrial. After a total of 15 hearings, the prosecution sought the death penalty while the defense argued for acquittal, leading to the conclusion of the hearings on May 22, 2024. This judgment was issued in today’s court ruling.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty without exception, regardless of the type of crime, circumstances, existence of a crime, individual characteristics, or methods of execution.
Latest Death Penalty Statistics (updated May 29, 2024)
According to an Amnesty survey, the number of countries executing the death penalty was the lowest ever, but the number of executions was the highest in nearly a decade. The decrease in the number of executing countries indicates an increasing isolation of countries that retain the death penalty.
View the latest death penalty statistics (2023)