World’s Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Wins $1.4M Payout, After 46 Years of Wrongful Conviction

World’s Longest-Serving Death Row: Iwao Hakamada, an 89-year-old Japanese man who spent 46 years on death row, has been awarded $1.4 million in compensation after being acquitted last year. The Shizuoka District Court confirmed the payout, which amounts to approximately $85 for each day he was wrongfully convicted.

A Wrongful Conviction That Spanned Decades

Hakamada, a former professional boxer, was sentenced to death in 1968 for the brutal murder of his employer, the employer’s wife, and their two children. Despite consistently maintaining his innocence, he remained incarcerated for more than half his life. He alleged that police fabricated evidence against him, a claim that gained credibility decades later when a DNA test revealed that bloodstained clothing used to convict him had been planted long after the crime took place.

The case attracted significant attention, particularly because Japan’s conviction rate is an astonishing 99%, according to the Ministry of Justice. His eventual acquittal in 2023 brought renewed scrutiny to the country’s criminal justice system and reignited calls to abolish the death penalty.

Longest-Serving Death Row: “A Mistake That Cannot Be Atoned For”

Hakamada’s lawyer, Hideyo Ogawa, described the court’s decision as the “highest amount” ever awarded for a wrongful conviction in Japan. However, he argued that no monetary compensation could ever make up for the suffering his client endured.

“I think the state has made a mistake that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen,” Ogawa told NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster.

Hakamada was arrested in 1966 after the murders took place in Shizuoka, central Japan. Initially, he confessed to the crimes, but he later retracted his admission, claiming police had beaten and threatened him into submission.

His trial resulted in a 2-1 ruling that sentenced him to death. The lone dissenting judge, who believed Hakamada was innocent, stepped down from the judiciary six months later, reportedly devastated by his inability to prevent the sentencing.

Freedom After Longest-Serving Death Row

Hakamada was finally released in 2014, pending a retrial, after new evidence cast serious doubt on his conviction. The retrial, which concluded in 2023, resulted in his full acquittal. By then, he had spent nearly five decades living under the constant shadow of execution.

While justice was ultimately served, the years of confinement took a lasting toll on Hakamada’s mental health. His sister, Hideko, who had campaigned tirelessly for his release, told CNN that he was now “living in his own world.”

“Sometimes he smiles happily, but that’s when he’s in his delusion… We have not even discussed the trial with Iwao because of his inability to recognize reality,” she said.

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