By TAKAHIRO TAKIZAWA/ Staff Writer
January 30, 2025 at 14:57 JST
Iwao Hakamata, with his sister, Hideko, thanks supporters in Shizuoka on Sept. 29, 2024, after his acquittal in a retrial. (Hisashi Homma)
Iwao Hakamata, a former boxer who was acquitted of murder charges after spending decades on death row, is seeking about 217 million yen ($1.4 million) from the government’s wrongful incarceration compensation system.
If approved, it would be the largest amount paid under the program.
His defense team filed the request with the Shizuoka District Court on Jan. 29.
The government provides compensation for emotional and physical distress and property damage suffered by detainees who were acquitted in criminal trials or retrials.
Hakamata, 88, was sentenced to death over the 1966 murders of four family members in Shizuoka Prefecture.
He was incarcerated for 47 years and seven months before being acquitted in a retrial in September last year.
Under the system, courts decide the amount of compensation, ranging from 1,000 yen to 12,500 yen per day incarcerated, depending on the length of detention and the degree of emotional distress suffered.
Hakamata’s team asked for the maximum 12,500 yen per day.
According to the team, Hakamata has difficulty communicating due to mental disorders he developed during his decades behind bars.
“The physical and mental anguish he has endured is immeasurable, given that he was exposed to the fear of the death penalty and that his mental health was affected by his incarceration,” the lawyers said in their written request to the court.
The lawyers are also preparing to file a damages lawsuit against the government over the investigation into Hakamata by police and prosecutors.
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