Sister of Ex-Inmate Denounces Japan Govt over Retrial Review

Tokyo, April 24 (Jiji Press)--The older sister of former Japanese death-row inmate Iwao Hakamata has reiterated her criticism of the government over a planned revamping of the country's retrial system.

A draft of the Justice Ministry's bill to amend the criminal procedure law to overhaul the retrial system bans the use of evidence disclosed during court proceedings on retrial petitions for purposes other than original intent. Violators would be subject to penalty, according to the draft bill.

This rule means that former convicts would be unable to present disclosed evidence to supporters or media organizations.

Slamming this rule, Hakamata's sister, Hideko, 93, said at a news conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Thursday that she opposes the draft government bill.

Hakamata, 90, was acquitted in a retrial over the 1966 murder of four members of a family in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]