88-year-old acquitted in retrial of murder trial in Japan

Shizuoka, Sept. 26 (Jiji Press) — A Japanese district court on Thursday acquitted an 88-year-old man in a high-profile retrial after he was sentenced to death for the murder of four people in 1966.

The acquittal of Iwao Hakamata came nearly 44 years after the death sentence for the murder in Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan became final. The verdict said that investigators had falsified evidence and concluded that Hakamata could not be identified as the perpetrator.

“The court regrets the incident,” said presiding judge Koshi Kunii, apologizing to Hakamata.

This is the fifth acquittal in a retrial in which the death penalty was confirmed since the end of World War II. The main question now is whether the prosecution will appeal the verdict.

The latest acquittal, which came 58 years after the incident, is expected to have implications for the country's retrial process.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]