Ex-Death Row Inmate’s Sister Slams Govt Retrial Review Plan

Tokyo, April 18 (Jiji Press)–The elder sister of former Japanese death-row inmate Iwao Hakamata, 90, who was acquitted in a retrial, criticized on Saturday the Justice Ministry’s current bill to reform the nation’s retrial system. Attending a rally held in front of Shibuya Station in Tokyo, the sister, Hideko, 93, called for banning public prosecutors from appealing court decisions granting retrials and for full disclosure of evidence. The bill to revise the criminal procedure law that the ministry plans to submit to parliament to revamp the retrial system limits the disclosure of evidence held by investigative authorities while maintaining prosecutors’ right to appeal against retrial rulings, which has been slammed as a factor substantially delaying relief for victims of wrongful convictions. The bill has met opposition from members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, creating uncertainty over whether it can gain the backing of the ruling bloc, which also includes the Japan Innovation Party. Hakamata was sentenced to death for the 1966 murder of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. After the sentence was finalized in 1980, he was ruled not guilty in a retrial in 2024. The rally was also attended by other victims of wrongful convictions. “The police and prosecutors hide evidence,” said Shoshi Maekawa, 60, who was acquitted in a retrial over the 1986 murder of a junior high school girl in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan. “Corruption is deeply entrenched.” “My father died while wishing to return home,” said Koji Sakahara, 65, the first son of Hiromu, who died of illness in prison at the age of 75 after being given an indefinite sentence over a 1984 murder-robbery in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan. A retrial ruling for Hiromu was finalized in February this year, and he is expected to be ruled innocent. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]