Tokyo: A Japanese man who was the longest-serving death row inmate in history was wrongly found guilty of murder and given a$ 1.4 million fine, according to a news release on Tuesday ( Mar 25 ).
Iwao Hakamada spent more than four decades in prison, the majority of which were spent on death row, a day that could have been his last, and received a payout of 12 500 US dollars ($ 83 ).
Following a diligent plan by his sister and another, the former athlete, who is now 89, was exonerated last year of a 1966 double death.
In a decision dated Monday, a jury official told AFP that” the plaintiff shall be granted 217, 362, 500.”
In September, the same jury determined that Hakamada was never guilty in a second trial and that authorities had hacked into the facts.
Hakamada later withdrew after being subjected to “inhumane interrogations meant to force a statement ( confession ),” the court reported at the time.
According to local media, the final number is a record for reimbursement of this kind.
However, Hakamada’s legal team claims that the payment does not cover the anguish he endured.
Hakamada’s psychological health suffered greatly as a result of years of confinement, with the danger of execution frequently looming, according to his attorneys, who described him as “living in a world of fantasy.”
In Japan’s post-war history, Hakamada was the second death row inmate to receive a lawsuit. Exonerations were also the outcome of all four prior situations.