Life-Sentenced Japanese Man Likely to Be Acquitted after Death

Otsu, Shiga Pref., June 19 (Jiji Press)–Japanese public prosecutors said Friday that they will not seek to prove guilt in a retrial of a man who received a life term for a 1984 robbery-murder in Shiga Prefecture and later died in prison, a decision that increased the likelihood that he will be acquitted at an early date. The prosecutors said that they have reached the decision as a result of careful consideration, while taking a court’s decision to start the retrial of Hiromu Sakahara seriously, according to the defense lawyer who attended Friday’s meeting with the prosecution and court officials at Otsu District Court. Sakahara was convicted of robbery-murder after a liquor shop owner was killed and her safe was stolen in Hino, a town in the western Japan prefecture. He died of illness at the age of 75 in 2011 while serving his sentence. After his arrest in 1988, Sakahara reportedly told investigators that he had committed the crime. But he pleaded not guilty at his trial. In 2018, the district court allowed a retrial of Sakahara, concluding that his confession contradicted objective evidence and lacked credibility. Osaka High Court upheld the decision in 2023, and the Supreme Court finalized it in February this year. At a press conference at the Shiga prefectural government office, Sakahara’s first son, Koji, 65, said, “I’m really happy.” “I’m happy, but I still miss him,” said Miwako, the 63-year-old first daughter of Sakahara. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]