Former death row inmate's sister slams Japan's retrial review plan

Sister of a man who spent nearly half a century on death row demands an end to prosecutors' appeals of retrial grants and full transparency of evidence. | Contesto: cronaca

Punti chiave

• Former death row inmate's sister slams Japan's retrial review plan

Contesto

The elder sister of Iwao Hakamata, a former death row inmate, has launched a public campaign demanding sweeping reforms to Japan's retrial system. Hideko Hakamata is calling for legislation to bar public prosecutors from appealing court decisions that grant retrials and for the mandatory, complete disclosure of all evidence in such cases. Her demands come as the government considers a review of retrial procedures, a move she fears could further entrench a system she describes as deeply flawed and weighted against the wrongfully convicted. Iwao Hakamata's case is a stark illustration of the issues at the heart of his sister's campaign. Convicted of the 1966 murder of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture, he spent 48 years in detention, most of it under sentence of death, before being released in 2014. His release was ordered by the Shizuoka District Court, which granted a retrial on the grounds that key evidence had likely been planted by investigators. The court cited reasonable doubt, a landmark decision that seemed to promise a long-awaited exoneration. However, that promise was immediately challenged. Public prosecutors appealed the retrial grant, triggering a lengthy legal battle that has stretched on for another decade. Despite his release, Hakamata, now 88, remains in a state of legal limbo, his murder conviction still technically in force. The protracted appeals process, which can see prosecutors repeatedly challenge lower court decisions in favor of a retrial, is a central target of Hideko Hakamata's criticism. She argues it subjects exonerees to unbearable psychological torment and represents a systemic failure to correct judicial errors. The campaign for reform has gained urgency due to a government-led review of retrial procedures. While officials frame the review as an effort to improve the system, advocates like Hideko Hakamata and supporting legal scholars are deeply skeptical. They worry the review will focus on streamlining procedures in a way that benefits the state, potentially making it harder, not easier, to overturn wrongful convictions. Their primary concern is that any new framework will lack the fundamental pillars they deem...

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Categoria: cronaca