Central Japan Prosecutor to Apologize in Person to Hakamata

   Shizuoka, Nov. 21 (Jiji Press)--The head of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutors Office in central Japan is preparing to apologize in person as early as Wednesday to Iwao Hakamata, 88, recently acquitted in a retrial, sources said Thursday.
   Hideo Yamada, chief prosecutor of the office in Shizuoka, the capital of the namesake prefecture, is expected to visit Hakamata's home in Hamamatsu in the same prefecture to meet with the former death-row inmate, who had been convicted over the 1966 murder of four people.
   The chief prosecutor is seen apologizing for the prolonged court proceedings.
   Last month, prefectural police chief Takayoshi Tsuda apologized directly to Hakamata.
   Shizuoka District Court judged in its retrial ruling Sept. 26 that evidence including Hakamata's confession obtained through interrogation and blood-stained clothes purportedly worn at the time of the murder was "fabricated" by investigation authorities.

(2024/11/21-13:44)