Japan needs to revise its retrial system, which leads to prolonged proceedings that could last for decades, a sister of Iwao Hakamata, an aging former inmate on retrial for a 1966 quadruple murder in central Japan, said Wednesday.
"We have been fighting for 58 years, and finally we are in a retrial. This is ridiculously long," Hideko Hakamata, 91, told a press conference in Tokyo, ahead of a ruling slated for Sept. 26 for her 88-year-old brother, who is still facing a death sentence.
The start of the retrial in October last year at the Shizuoka District Court raised hopes that Iwao Hakamata would be acquitted, even though prosecutors again demanded the death penalty in the hearing, which concluded in late May.
Hideko appeared at the retrial in place of her brother, who was exempted from attending due to his deteriorating mental state. He spent nearly half a century behind bars on death row before new evidence led to his release in 2014, leading to his being recognized that year as the world's longest-serving death row prisoner.
She said during the press conference that she was "unfazed" about the prosecutors sticking to their demand of capital punishment, indicating they probably had no other way to respond.
While expecting the legal battle to "come to a close" with the retrial, she called for an amendment in the legal provisions for retrials for the sake of the many potentially wrongly convicted victims.
"I don't think Iwao should be the only one who should be saved," she said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.
Legal experts say the current retrial provisions, which are included in the criminal procedure law, make it increasingly difficult to swiftly start a new trial to re-examine matters from a concluded trial.
The criminal procedure law stipulates that a retrial will be opened if there is "clear evidence to find the accused not guilty." But it lacks provisions on the disclosure of information that is in possession of prosecutors and investigators for retrials, preventing easy access to evidence that could favor the convicted, experts say.
Prosecutors can also file an objection against a court decision to grant a retrial that may result in a higher court overturning the decision to reopen the case.
"We need the retrial law to be amended so that evidence favorable for the wrongly convicted will come out," Hideko said.
In Hakamata's case, it was only in 2010 that prosecutors, at the insistence of the court, disclosed evidence that helped fuel doubt on the death sentence finalized by the Supreme Court in 1980. This evidence included color photos of the five pieces of blood-stained clothing that he allegedly wore during the murder.
The Tokyo High Court, which was ordered by the top court in 2020 to re-examine its 2018 decision not to reopen the case, reversed course and ordered the retrial in March 2023, citing the unreliability of the main evidence -- the five pieces of clothing -- used.
Hakamata, a former professional boxer, was arrested in 1966 for allegedly murdering the senior managing director of the miso paste maker where he worked, his wife, as well as two of their children. They were found stabbed to death at their burned-down Shizuoka Prefecture home.
Though Hakamata initially confessed to the killings during intense interrogation, he pleaded not guilty at his trial, where he was indicted for murder, robbery and arson.
Hideko, who lives with her brother in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, said he "eats a lot," enjoying grilled eel rice bowl every night over the past year.
"I hope he spends time eating what he likes," she said.
The sister also said she came to oppose the death penalty due to her brother's case, and called for the public to work to abolish the system.
© KYODO
17 Comments
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sakurasuki
Japan hostage justice system, just won't let innocent people slipped away. Need to maintain 99% conviction rate, no matter that person innocent or not. Recently someone from Tokyo Olympics bribe case brought that to court. https://japantoday.com/category/crime/indicted-mogul-takes-on-japan's-'hostage-justice'-system
Moonraker
So there is the prosecutors' get-out-of-jail-free card. And, of course, they will exploit it rather than have the truth known, for conviction is worth more than truth or justice to these prosecutors, and obviously to the people in general, and the media, since they rarely make a fuss, keeping their heads down hoping and believing the justice system is in working order.
jackandjill
This case should not be happening. The guy is 91. 40 years on death row.
Yubaru
The prosecutors will probably still press for the death penalty as anything else would be a stain on their almost perfect record.
Their pride gets in the way of their brains!
obladi
Most people would have given up by now. I respect her ability to stay focused on what's right.
The courts are apparently just waiting for nature to take its course and wash this stain away.
ebisen
Naaah sis, you underestimate how determined government employees in Japan are to ensure they and their successors have a job. So what if a rather simple trial takes five decades and many hundreds of million of taxpayer yen? Who cares, as long as the 公務員 (civil servants) have a steady salary. It's not a private company, where they pay by performance and efficiency!!!
dagon
Any charges brought against the prosecutors who deliberately withheld evidence for 30 years that could have ensured a more just outcome to the possibly unjust incarceration of an innocent man and shed light on the identity of the actual criminal?
Thought not.
These injustices will continue until prosecutors lose their impunity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/15/us/robert-duboise-tampa-florida-murder-settlement.html
Good for her for grasping the larger scope of the issue.
Alan Harrison
Japan needs to revise its retrial system .....
Japan needs to revise it's whole legal system.
SaikoPhysco
Japan's over 99% conviction rate and the "hostage justice system" are the scariest things by far about living here. The Govt. is all about saving money when it comes to people's rights but not when it comes to stimulus packages directed towards corporate Japan.
Speed
This is the biggest problem. ALL evidence should be easily accessible - favorable or damning to the convicted.
I like the straightshooting talk of Hideko. She's saying it how it is.
Hello Kitty 321
@Dagon
No charges will be brought against the prosecutors because under Japanese law they are not obliged to reveal any evidence that would prove detrimental to their case.
Aly Rustom
Beat me to it Alan.
collegepark30349
This is absolutely bonkers:
OK. So, one, the burden of proof is on the accused. You have to prove your innocence instead of them having to prove that you are guilty. Two, there is no rule of discovery for the prosecution. Three, because there is no discovery, the prosecution can hide exculpatory evidence, thus preventing you from "providing clear evidence" that you are not guilty. Talk about home court advantage for the prosecution.
And as I have always stated, if they are absolutely sure this guy is guilty, why has no Justice Minister signed his execution papers in 40+ years? 134 executions in Japan since 1993, yet this man has yet to be executed. They obviously don't think he is guilty and do not want blood on their hands. They were probably hoping he would die in prison of natural causes. I imagine now they are hoping he dies before the trial and verdict so that even if he is found innocent, they can way "well, we did not execute an innocent man."
Abe234
What they want is for him to die and then say “shoganai”.
Lola
Japan needs to revise nearly all legal procedures.... still in edo jidai
Brian Wheway
If he can prove his innocence, wow that's a lot of embarrassment for the prosecution, and what about the compansassion claim how much could that be, the whole system needs to be overhauled, but we all know it won't be in our life time, poor bloke, it should have been sorted years ago, not years after his death,
Ricky Kaminski13
It’s called the waiting game. No moral compass or empathy necessary. No one held accountable for any miscarriage of justice or wrongdoing, and the system takes care of its enablers. 50 years or longer, try us!