After staying in death row for more than 45 years, 78-year old Iwao Hakamada has been granted freedom by a Japanese court who also ordered a re-investigation and a retrial of the case. The Shizuoka District Court deferred the death sentence on Hakamada, saying that investigators may have falsified evidence used during trial.

Hakamada was convicted of murder way back in 1966 and is the unfortunate Guinness World Record holder for the longest time served on death row, having been there for 46 out of 48 years served. A former professional boxer, he was accused of murdering a company manager and his family then setting their house on fire. He appealed the case, which prolonged the implementation of the execution. It took the Supreme Court 27 years before deciding to deny his first appeal. He filed for another appeal in 2008 and even though it took them 6 years to decide, this time the ruling was in his favor.

According to the court, the DNA analysis presented by Hakamada’s lawyers hints that investigators of the case may have fabricated the evidence. The court has since ordered a retrial. This makes Hakamada the sixth inmate from death row to get a retrial in Japan after the war. Four have already been acquitted while the fifth’s retrial is still ongoing. Japan’s much-criticized police and penal system, which has closed interrogations which often leads to false confessions, will once again be put on the spotlight. Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have also been pressuring Japan to do away with capital punishment as it is just one of the very few countries in the world that still sentence people to death.

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