Iwao Hakamada has always maintained his innocence and his forthcoming retrial gives him the possibility to have it recognized. But time is of the essence. He is 88 years old and his health, including his mental health, is poor.

Iwao was arrested 57 years ago, convicted and sentenced to death 55 years ago, based on a “confession” extracted through torture or other ill-treatment, as well as evidence that is likely to have been fabricated and planted. It has been nine years since the Shizuoka District Court granted his request for a retrial and temporarily released him from death row, but the repeated appeals from the prosecutions stalled the beginning of the proceedings.

It was only on 13 March 2023 that the Tokyo High Court ruled in favour of the beginning of his retrial, pointing out that “there is a possibility that a third party hid the five items of clothing” that were the main basis for the conviction and that the evidence could have been fabricated by a third party, going as far as stating that “the third party is most likely an investigative agency.”

However, about a month later, on 10 April, at the first meeting between the Shizuoka District Court, the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office, and the defence team, the prosecution requested a three-month period to decide on whether they would continue to seek to prove Iwao’s guilt. On 10 July, the prosecutors announced that they would.

After nine long years waiting for his retrial to begin, the first hearing will take place on 27 October. The unfairness in his case has been decades long. Urge the Japanese authorities to ensure that the retrial is carried out without undue delay, and conducted fairly to protect his human rights and dignity to the utmost.

Add your name to the petition calling for justice for Iwao Hakamada.