This is arguably the end of one of the longest courtroom soap operas in modern history. A Japanese court on Monday (March 13) ordered the review of the trial of an 87-year-old man considered to be the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, nearly 60 years after his conviction for murder. Iwao Hakamada’s lawyers walked out of the Tokyo High Court on Monday after a short hearing, waving banners demanding a new trial, while his supporters shouted: “Free Hakamada, now!”.
“I’ve waited 57 years for this day and it has come”said, moved, Hideko Hakamada, the sister of the prisoner, at the exit of the court. “It’s a weight that has finally been lifted from my shoulders”, added the 90-year-old woman, whose brother spent more than four decades on death row after he was sentenced to death in 1968 for the quadruple murder of his boss and three members of his family. this. Former professional boxer, Iwao Hakamada confessed to the crime after weeks of interrogations in detention, before recanting.