88-Year-Old Acquitted in Murder Retrial in Japan

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

The acquittal of Iwao Hakamata came nearly 44 years after his death sentence became final over the murder in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. The ruling said that investigative authorities fabricated evidence, concluding that Hakamata cannot be recognized as the perpetrator.

"The court feels sorry," Presiding Judge Koshi Kunii told Hakamata's older sister, Hideko, 91, who appeared in court on behalf of her brother. Hakamata himself was exempted from appearing due to what seemed to be symptoms of Ganser syndrome, caused by decades of imprisonment.

Since the end of World War II, this is the fifth acquittal in a retrial case in which the death penalty has been confirmed. The focus now is whether the prosecution will appeal the verdict.

The latest acquittal, which came 58 years after the incident occurred, is likely to affect the country's retrial system.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]