A Japanese court on Monday ordered a review of the trial of an 87-year-old man, considered 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 after a short hearing, waving banners calling for a new trial, while his supporters shouted, “Free Hakamada now!”.
“I’ve waited 57 years for this day, and it has come”enthused the sister of Mr. Hakamada, herself aged 90, “it’s a weight that has finally been lifted from my shoulders”. His 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 of his family members.