Japan: Retrial of longest-serving death row inmate must not be blocked

27 March 2014 The Japanese courts have at last seen sense and granted a retrial to a prisoner who has spent more than four decades on death row, said Amnesty International. The organization is now urging prosecutors to accept the court's decision. Hakamada Iwao, 78, was sentenced to death in 1968 and is believed to be the longest-serving death row inmate in the world. After an unfair trial, he was convicted of the murder of his boss, his boss’s wife and their two children.Shizuoka District Court granted his latest request for a retrial at a hearing earlier today. Prosecutors have four days…

© Amnestie Internationale - jeudi 27 mars 2014