Many Question Conviction of Man on Japan’s Death Row for 40 Years…

From News source:

After four decades awaiting execution, a recent court development offers hope of retrial for Masaru Okunishi.

An evening in March 1961, in the central Japanese village of Kuzuo: Masaru Okunishi, a farmer in his mid- thirties, attended a meeting at a local community centre.

Among those gathered that night at the community centre were Okunishi’s  wife – and his mistress.

Wine was served to the women, which Masaru Okunishi had carried to the meeting. The men drank sake and everyone toasted to success for their further networking.

But suddenly the evening started to go wrong. After a glass or two, Okunishi’s wife, his mistress and three other local women suddenly felt unwell. A doctor was frantically summoned, but the five women died shortly afterwards. Twelve other women were taken seriously ill.

The next morning, the farmer was brought to the local police station. No lawyer was present during five days of intense interrogation and by the early morning on 3 April the police had forcibly extracted a confession. Okunishi was formally charged with the murder of the five women.

Tests showed the wine was laced with agricultural chemicals, but no evidence was found proving that Okunishi had poisoned it. Masaru Okunishi later retracted his confession, saying he was forced to confess.

In 1964, the Tsu District Court acquitted Okunishi, citing a lack of evidence. But the prosecution appealed the verdict. The Nagoya High Court revoked the lower court decision and sentenced him to death in 1969 – a decision upheld by the Supreme Court in 1972.

Today, Okunishi is in solitary confinement in a detention centre in the central Japanese city of Nagoya. Now in his eighties, he has spent more than 45 years in custody, 40 of these on death row. He has had six appeals for a retrial rejected.

In April 2005, the Nagoya High Court decided to reopen the trial, citing new evidence that could prove his innocence.

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