Hideko Hakamada, (centre), the sister of acquitted murder suspect Iwao Hakamada, enters the Shizuoka District Court in Aoi Ward, Shizuoka, on Thursday (Sept 26). - Photo: Pool photo / The Yomiuri Shimbun
TOKYO: The Shizuoka District Court’s acquittal ruling on Thursday (Sept 26) for Iwao Hakamada has upset police and prosecutors, as their organisations were found to have “fabricated” evidence in the mass murder case.
The court ruled five articles of clothing discovered in a miso tank near the crime scene 14 months after the 1966 murders were “processed and hidden by the investigative authorities.”
In response to the evidence being deemed to have been “fabricated,” a senior Shizuoka prefectural police officer retorted, “That’s impossible.”
Another senior officer said: “How can they say that the investigation authorities fabricated the evidence?”
An 87-year-old former prefectural police officer said: “There were certainly mistakes in the initial investigation. But fabricating evidence to convict someone only does harm, no good. I am disappointed that court viewed the evidence as fabrication.”
The deputy chief prosecutor of the Shizuoka District Public Prosecutor’s Office told reporters that the office was aware of the defence’s request to abandon the appeal.
“We understand the content and objective [of the request], but what we ultimately decide is a different issue,” he said. - The Japan News/ANN
