Arab News Japan

TOKYO: About 40 supporters of former death row prisoner HAKAMADA Iwao gathered in front of the office of the Tokyo public prosecutor in central Tokyo on Monday following the court decision to grant the former boxer a retrial.

After the announcement that the prosecution will not appeal the decision, Hakamada’s supporters cried with joy as journalists looked on. 

Hakamada was accused of murdering his boss and his family but there is now an expectation that he will finally be found innocent of the crime.

The 87-year-old had been sentenced to death and spent 47 years in prison before doubts about his guilt were addressed. Hakamada was the longest-serving person on death row.

The Hakamada affair has always attracted considerable media and public attention in Japan and there has been serious doubt about his guilt for many years, but the prosecution has always been reluctant to order a retrial.