Japanese man spends 44 years on death row
A Japanese man has been identified as the longest-serving death row prisoner in the world after awaiting execution for a staggering 44 years and five months.
Hakamada Iwao is believed to be the world's longest serving death-row prisoner
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
6:26AM BST 10 Apr 2013
Iwao Hakamada, 77, has been incarcerated since September 1968, earning him a place in the Guinness World Records, but his situation is worsened by string suspicions that he was wrongfully convicted.
Hakamada was found guilty of starting a fire at the home of the owner of a miso company in Shizuoka Prefecture in June 1966, killing the man and three of his relatives. Hakamada, a title-winning boxer, had worked for the company and was subjected to 23 days of near-constant interrogation before he confessed. Clothing linked to the case did not fit Hakamada and the alleged murder weapon did not match wounds on the bodies.
Title-winning boxer Iwao Hakamada (right) in the ring before his arrest
Despite withdrawing his confession in court and telling the judge he was given no food or water, beaten and kicked and only allowed to speak with his lawyers on three brief occasions, he was sentenced to death.
The two senior judges hearing the case sentenced Hakamada to death; the third judge felt so strongly that a miscarriage of justice had occurred that he resigned and became a defence lawyer. Norimichi Kumamato has since supported numerous appeals by Hakamada's defence team, going as far as the Supreme Court, but all of which have failed.
A motion for the case to be re-examined is presently being considered, based on DNA evidence, although Hakamada's lawyers say their client's mental state has deteriorated to the point that he cannot comprehend that he is in prison. Suffering a condition that experts describe as "prison psychosis," Hakamada has refused to meet any of his relatives since August 2010. On Wednesday, Amnesty International criticised Japan - where 130 people are on death row - for restarting executions last year after a 20-month hiatus.
