After more than four and a half decades, a court in Shizuoka, Japan finally granted a retrial to a man sentenced to death back in 1968, before The Beatles broke up, before man walked on the moon.  Hakamada Iwao is 78-years old.  He is believed to be the longest-serving death row inmate in the world.

Supporters were elated as news of the ruling was rushed out of the court 150 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

“If ever there was a case that merits a retrial, this is it.   Hakamada was convicted on the basis of a forced confession and there remain unanswered questions over recent DNA evidence,” said Roseann Rife of Amnesty International.

In 1966, the former boxer Hakamada was arrested for the murders of his boss, the boss’s wife, and their two children.  He “confessed” after 20 days of interrogation, but retracted that confession during his trial accusing police of beating and threatening him.

According to his lawyers, recent forensic tests show no match between Hakamada’s DNA and samples taken from clothing the prosecution alleges was worn by the murderer. 

At the time, Japan had no jury trials.  One of the three judges who convicted Hakamada in 1968 has since changed his opinion and maintained he believes the defendant was innocent.  The fact that Hakamada is alive suggests that every Justice Minister in every successive government in Japan since 1968 has refused to sign the death warrant against him.

Rife says prosecutors should allow the retrial to go forward.

“It would be most callous and unfair of prosecutors to appeal the court’s decision. Time is running out for Hakamada to receive the fair trial he was denied more than four decades ago.”