Acquittal of 88-Yr-Old Hakamata Set to Become Final

Tokyo/Shizuoka, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese public prosecutors said Tuesday that they will not appeal a district court ruling last month that acquitted 88-year-old Iwao Hakamata in his retrial for the 1966 murder of four members of a family in the central prefecture of Shizuoka.

The acquittal of Hakamata will now become final, 58 years after he was arrested in the case and nearly 44 years after his previous death sentence became final.

The Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office will take procedures on Wednesday to waive the right to appeal the case.

This is the fifth case in the country since the end of World War II in which a person on death row has been acquitted after a retrial.

Prosecutor-General Naomi Unemoto issued a rare statement on the day, apologizing for putting Hakamata in a situation where his legal status was unstable for a very long time.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]