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A man who was imprisoned from 1968 to 2014 has been found not guilty and will get compensation.

Iwao Hakamata, a Japanese man, was found guilty of a crime he did not commit and given the death penalty.

Until 2014, when fresh evidence resulted in his release, Hakamata remained incarcerated and awaited his hanging.

After the case was retried, Hakamata was found not guilty in 2024. He will now receive compensation from the government for the majority of his life that was lost due to his illegal detention.

Hakamata, now 89, was arrested by police while he was employed at a soybean processing business in Shizuoka, central Japan.

He was falsely convicted of killing his boss’s wife and their two children after they were discovered stabbed to death in their house.

He had previously entered a guilty plea, but he later retracted it, claiming that the police had threatened and tortured him to get it.

He won because a DNA test revealed that the bloodstained clothes that the police used to condemn him had been planted prior to the killings.

The amount given to Hakamata is $1.4 million (2,150,582,000). According to CNN, which cites a Shizuoka District Court, the money given to him amounts to approximately US$85 per day since his conviction.

Hakamata’s lawyer, Hideyo Ogawa, who spoke about the development, said the sum was the most ever compensated in Japan for a wrongful conviction.

However, he said that the sum would not make up for the pain and humiliation Hakamata had endured.

He said: “I think the state (government) has made a mistake that cannot be atoned for with 200 million yen.”

Speaking as well, Hideko, Hakamata’s sister, who has consistently advocated for his release, said that her brother’s mental health was ruined by the prolonged incarceration. The 89-year-old guy, she claimed, is incapable of recognizing reality.

Her words: Hakamata was “living in his own world. Sometimes he smiles happily, but that’s when he’s in his delusion… We have not even discussed the trial with Iwao because of his inability to recognize reality.”

Olowookere, who is now a nursing student in a correctional facility, has demonstrated remarkable fortitude and tenacity, garnering praise for his actions.

The Monsurat Ajoke Foundation has played a crucial role in promoting his release by showcasing his path of development and atonement.

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