Photo/Illutration Shoji Maekawa appears in Kanazawa on July 18, holding a hat belonging to Iwao Hakamata and wearing a tie given to him by Keiko Aoki, who were both acquitted of murder in retrials. (Shinnosuke Ito)

Why do wrongful convictions occur? Why don’t they ever go away?

A petition written in the early Meiji Era (1868-1912) is preserved at the National Archives. Its author, Yoshinobu Hattori, was a former retainer of the feudal Matsuyama-han clan in Iyo Province, present-day Ehime Prefecture.

In the document, Hattori analyzed the causes of wrongful convictions and appealed to the government to prevent them.

He asserted that the miscarriages of justice were “due to evil bureaucratic practices,” and harshly denounced the systemic nature of corruption among government officials.

And pointing out how some bureaucrats who, out of self-preservation or greed for promotion, deliberately “framed” innocent individuals in the absence of sufficient evidence for conviction, Hattori concluded, “This is the root cause of rampant wrongful convictions.”

Shoji Maekawa, 60, who was convicted of murdering a junior high school girl in the city of Fukui 39 years ago, was acquitted in a retrial on July 18.

“Finally, my innocence has been proven,” he said to his supporters. “To be frank, my heart feels sort of empty.”

His guilt was based on the testimony of an acquaintance. But the TV program, which this “witness” said was being shown on the night of the murder, did not air that particular evening.

This discrepancy was more than serious enough to blow the prosecution’s case out of the water. And yet, the prosecutors chose to keep it under wraps.

What if I had happened to be in Maekawa’s shoes? The very thought horrifies me.

How could such a grossly incompetent investigation ever be allowed, not to mention the guilty verdict it led to?

How long must we keep seeing the same injustice being repeated ad nauseum? And how many more victims must gnash their teeth in despair?

Hattori, the author of the above-mentioned plea, had experienced being convicted falsely of murder and imprisonment, and then being exonerated when evidence of his innocence miraculously came to light.

Written with a brush and ink, his heartfelt plea--that the agony of being falsely accused be eliminated forever from the world--transcends time and speaks to us as we look to the future.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 19

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.