Sister of Ex-Inmate Denounces Japan Govt over Retrial Review

Tokyo, April 24 (Jiji Press)–The older sister of former Japanese death-row inmate Iwao Hakamata has reiterated her criticism of the government over a planned revamping of the country’s retrial system. A draft of the Justice Ministry’s bill to amend the criminal procedure law to overhaul the retrial system bans the use of evidence disclosed during court proceedings on retrial petitions for purposes other than original intent. Violators would be subject to penalty, according to the draft bill. This rule means that former convicts would be unable to present disclosed evidence to supporters or media organizations. Slamming this rule, Hakamata’s sister, Hideko, 93, said at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Thursday that she opposes the draft government bill. Hakamata, 90, was acquitted in a retrial over the 1966 murder of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. In court proceedings on Hakamata’s request for a retrial, color photos of bloodstained clothes disclosed by the prosecution led to the presentation of powerful evidence to indicate his innocence. The proposed amendment of the criminal procedure law is designed to speed up the rescue of victims of false convictions. But it has been pointed out that the Justice Ministry bill would make it impossible for former convicts to show disclosed evidence to supporters and media outlets as part of efforts to seek new evidence and boost public interest in their retrial petitions, eventually leading to greater difficulties obtaining court decisions to reopen cases. Hideko said that the planned ban with penalties is possibly “intended to limit (prosecutors’ evidence disclosure) to their own advantage. Hideyo Ogawa, a lawyer who served as head of the secretariat for the defense team for Hakamata on his retrial petition, also condemned the government bill, saying, “What’s the problem with showing evidence (to supporters and others)?” Meanwhile, a group of some 20 lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who are calling for a modification of the draft government bill held a meeting Thursday, reaffirming their position of seeking a complete ban on public prosecutors’ appeals against court decisions to grant retrials. The lawmakers, including former education minister Masahiko Shibayama and former LDP policy chief Tomomi Inada, also reconfirmed that they will aim to enact a modified bill during the ongoing session of the Diet, the country’s parliament. The original draft government bill continued allowing prosecutors to appeal against such court orders, drawing a backlash from the LDP. In response, the Justice Ministry modified the draft by limiting requirements for filing appeal. Since this was also criticized as being insufficient, the ministry is now considering prohibiting prosecutors from filing appeals in principle while allowing them to do so as exceptions in cases where there are sufficient grounds to overturn court orders to give retrials. Yosei Ide, an LDP lawmaker in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, who attended Thursday’s meeting, told reporters that the ministry has made a compromise. But he also said, “We will firmly maintain our principle (of seeking an all-out ban),” expressing the lawmaker group’s intention to demand more concessions from the ministry. The system of allowing prosecutors to file appeals has been under fire for making related court proceedings lengthy and considerably delaying the rescue of people who were falsely convicted. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]