Imagine being condemned to death by your country’s courts and then whiling away year after year – 48 years in fact – waiting for your life to be legally snuffed out. And then, one fine morning, you are free! You’re out of jail even though you face a retrial.
But you are out – till that second trial begins and ends – perhaps in your acquittal and exoneration. But what about those 48 years? How will you ever get any kind of compensation for those wasted years – spent by you all alone? That’s what has happened to Iwao Hakamada, now 78, who was accused of having murdered his boss, that man’s wife and his two children in a grisly manner at a soybean processing company. "Hakamada 'confessed' after 20 days of interrogation by police. He retracted the confession during the trial and told the court that police had beaten and threatened him," Amnesty International said. "According to his lawyers, recent forensic tests show no match between Hakamada's DNA and samples taken from clothing the prosecution alleges was worn by the murderer." 78-year-old ex-boxer's mental state had deteriorated because of isolation, Amnesty added. District Court Judge Hiroaki Murayama, who handled the retrial proceeding, said DNA test results indicated blood found on five items of clothing allegedly worn by the culprit was not Hakamada's. The court said keeping him detained any longer would be unjust. Prosecutors have four days to appeal the court's ruling, but Amnesty International's East Asia research director said it would be "most callous and unfair" to challenge the court's decision. "Time is running out for Hakamada to receive the fair trial he was denied more than four decades ago," noted Roseann Rife, Taiwan-based head of East Asia of Amnesty International . "If ever there was a case that merits a retrial, this is it. Hakamada was convicted on the basis of a forced confession, and there remain unanswered questions over recent DNA evidence." Several men in blue uniforms, some wearing surgical masks, escorted Hakamada out of a Tokyo detention centre. Hunched forward and wearing a yellow, short-sleeved button-down, he entered a silver van. He was accompanied by his sister, Hideko Hakamada, who earlier attended a rally outside the court in which several dozen supporters broke into emphatic applause when a man unfurled a sign saying, "Retrial granted." An emotional Hideko Hakamada told the crowd, "Thank you very much. I am very pleased. I am very thankful with everyone's support." Iwao Hakamada today (left) and before his world-record imprisonment
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