Japan court acquits former boxer of murder after decades on death row
Al JazeeraSEP 29 2024
Japan's Longest Death Row Inmate Awarded $1.4M After Acquittal
Above: Iwao Hakamada (L) and his sister Hideko leave after a press conference in Tokyo on Nov. 25, 2019. Image copyright: Kazuhiro Nogi/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
Through this historic compensation and acknowledgment of wrongdoing, the Japanese justice system has demonstrated its ability to correct past wrongs, setting an important precedent for future cases of wrongful conviction and showing a commitment to justice reform.
Narrative B
The decades-long struggle to secure a retrial and the severe mental toll on Hakamada reveal fundamental flaws in Japan's criminal justice system, including the use of forced confessions and the extremely high hurdles for obtaining retrials, necessitating urgent reform of the current legal framework.