Hideko Hakamata (R) holds a press conference with her lawyer at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo on Wednesday. Hideko appeared at the retrial in place of her brother, who was exempted from attending due to his deteriorating mental state. Legal experts say the current retrial provisions, which are included in the criminal procedure law, make it increasingly difficult to swiftly start a new trial to re-examine matters from a concluded trial. The criminal procedure law stipulates that a retrial will be opened if there is "clear evidence to find the accused not guilty." "We need the retrial law to be amended so that evidence favorable for the wrongly convicted will come out," Hideko said.

Source: New York Times July 04, 2024 07:47 UTC