World’s Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Acquitted In Japan

JAPAN – An 88-year-old man who is the world’s longest-serving death row inmate has been acquitted by a Japanese court, after it found that evidence used against him was fabricated.

It ends his family’s search for justice after a wrongful conviction for crimes committed nearly 60 years ago.

The Shizuoka District court cleared Iwao Hakamada in a retrial of the 1966 murders of his former boss and his family.

Hakamada spent 45 years on death row before a court ordered his release and a retrial in 2014 amid doubts about the evidence.

Though he briefly admitted to the killings, he retracted the confession and pleaded innocent during his trial, but was sentenced to death in 1968.

Since his release, Hakamada has lived with his older sister who battled for decades to clear his name.