Japan awards record $1.4M to longest-serving death row inmate

• Iwao Hakamada spent 46 years on death row after being convicted of a quadruple murder he was alleged to have committed in 1966. He was acquitted in September 2024.
• The court in Shizuoka awarded him 217 million yen in compensation, the highest amount in Japanese history for wrongful imprisonment.
• Hakamada's lawyers are planning further legal action against Shizuoka Prefecture authorities and the central government to hold them accountable.

The court in Shizuoka ordered the payment of over 217 million yen (approximately $1.4 million USD) from the government compensation system to Iwao Hakamada, who spent 46 years on death row.

He was convicted in 1986 for a quadruple murder alleged to have been committed in 1966, including the killing of a soy sauce factory manager. In 2014, new evidence emerged that raised doubts about the validity of the verdict, leading to his release and a retrial.

In its rationale for the decision, the court emphasized that investigative authorities had fabricated evidence, which served as the basis for the compensation determination. The presiding judge noted that the time Hakamada spent on death row caused him "extremely severe" psychological and physical pain, resulting in mental disabilities that led to speech and communication disorders.

According to the Kyodo news agency, Hakamada's lawyers plan to sue Shizuoka Prefecture authorities and the central government to hold them accountable for the wrongful conviction. "In light of the hardship and suffering of the past 47 or 48 years, and given his current situation, I think it shows that the state has made mistakes that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen," said Hideyo Ogawa, one of Hakamada's lawyers.

Hakamada, now 89 years old, is recognized as the longest-serving death row inmate in the world. His case has become a symbol of the fight for justice in Japan.