THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 21, 2024 at 16:29 JST
HAMAMATSU--Fifty-eight years after arresting Iwao Hakamada on murder charges, Shizuoka prefectural police apologized to the 88-year-old man who spent nearly a half-century on death row for a crime he did not commit.
Takayoshi Tsuda, chief of Shizuoka police, visited Hakamada's home here to apologize to him and his sister Hideko for the wrongful arrest and investigation at around 11 a.m. on Oct. 21.
“For the past 58 years, a long period from the time of your arrest until you were proven innocent, we caused you indescribable anxiety and burden," Tsuda said. "We are truly sorry. We will make efforts to ensure that our investigations are more thorough and fair.”
Hideko replied to the police chief, saying, “It was 58 years ago. We believe that everything that happened was our destiny. We will not complain about anything to the police now.”
Hakamada was arrested in 1966 on suspicion of murdering all four family members of an executive of a miso factory in Shizuoka Prefecture earlier that year.
After Hakamada was sentenced to death, Hideko fought over the decades for a retrial to free her brother, appealing the ruling many times.
He was released from custody in 2014 when the district court suspended his execution order and granted a retrial.
Hakamada was finally declared innocent in a retrial on Sept. 26 this year.
The court also recognized that evidence, including Hakamada’s confession records, which were written by the prosecutors, as well as the bloody clothing that he was said to have been wearing at the time of the crime, were fabricated by investigative authorities.
As for the prosecutors, Prosecutor-General Naomi Unemoto criticized the court for stating that investigators had fabricated the evidence and hasn’t apologized to Hakamada.
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For details of Hakamada’s trial and letters that he sent to his family while on death row for decades, check out https://www.asahi.com/special/hakamadaletters/en/.
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Takayoshi Tsuda, chief of Shizuoka prefectural police, apologizes to Iwao Hakamada, second from right, and his sister Hideko, right, at their home in Hamamatsu on Oct. 21. (Pool)
