OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:22 AM – Wednesday, March 26, 2025
A Japanese man, who spent over 40 years on death row after being wrongfully convicted, has been awarded $1.4 million in compensation.
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Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamata, 89, was acquitted last year and has now been rewarded roughly $85 for each day he was wrongfully convicted, adding up to 47 years.
His legal representative Hideyo Ogawa described the compensation as the “highest amount” ever handed out for a wrongful conviction in Japan, but said it could never make up for what Hakamata had suffered.
“I think the state (government) has made a mistake that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen,” the lawyer said.
According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Hakamata was acquitted after a DNA test showed that the bloodstained clothing which was used to convict him was planted long after the murders.
In 1968, Hakamata was sentenced after his boss, his boss’ wife and their two children were found stabbed to death.
He had initially admitted to the charges against him. However, he later changed his plea, accusing police of forcing him to confess by beating and threatening him.
Decades later, in 2014, he was released and granted retrial, living under the care of his 91-year-old sister Hideko. He was acquitted last year following the new trial.
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