A Japanese man, Iwao Hakamada who spent over four decades on death row for a crime he did not commit, has been awarded 217 million yen ($1.4 million) in compensation, a court official confirmed on Tuesday.
According to the AFP, the 89-year-old, who was exonerated last year of a 1966 quadruple murder, was granted the payout by the Shizuoka District Court.
The sum equates to 12,500 yen ($83) for each day he was imprisoned, much of it under the looming threat of execution.
Hakamada, a former professional boxer, had long maintained his innocence, with his sister and supporters tirelessly fighting for his release.
His legal team has welcomed the compensation but argued it does not reflect the immense suffering he endured.
“This amount cannot truly compensate for the decades of psychological and physical torment he suffered,” his lawyers said in a statement.
In a ruling last September, the court declared Hakamada not guilty, concluding that police had tampered with evidence and coerced a confession through brutal interrogations.
“The claimant was subjected to inhumane questioning designed to force a confession,” the court stated in its decision.
Despite the record-breaking compensation sum, Hakamada’s lawyers emphasized the lasting impact of his wrongful imprisonment. They described him as living in a “world of fantasy,” a result of the immense psychological toll of his years behind bars.
Hakamada is one of only five death row inmates in Japan’s post-war history to have been granted a retrial, with all previous cases also leading to exonerations.
