World’s Longest-Serving Death Row Inmate Receives Record Compensation Following Wrongful Conviction – One America News Network
OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:22 AM – Wednesday, March 26, 2025
A Japanese man, who endured more than 40 years on death row due to a wrongful conviction, has been awarded $1.4 million as compensation.
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Former professional boxer Iwao Hakamata, now 89, was acquitted last year and received approximately $85 for every day he spent wrongfully imprisoned, totaling 47 years.
His attorney, Hideyo Ogawa, stated that this compensation amount is the “highest ever” given for a wrongful conviction in Japan, though he emphasized that it could not compensate for the suffering Hakamata endured.
“I believe the government has committed a mistake that cannot be rectified with 200 million yen,” the lawyer asserted.
As reported by the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, Hakamata’s acquittal came after DNA testing proved that the bloodstained clothing used to convict him was planted long after the actual crimes took place.
In 1968, Hakamata was sentenced after his boss, the boss’s wife, and their two children were discovered stabbed to death.
He initially confessed to the charges but later recanted, claiming that police had coerced him through beating and threats.
Years later, in 2014, he regained his freedom and was retried while living under the care of his 91-year-old sister, Hideko. He was acquitted the following year during the new trial.
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