International News
Japanese Court Acquits Longest-Serving Death Row Prisoner
The world’s longest-serving death row prisoner was acquitted on Thursday, more than half a century after his murder conviction when a Japanese court ruled that evidence had been fabricated.
Ailing health prevented 88-year-old former boxer Iwao Hakamada from being in court to learn the outcome of his retrial, which was granted a decade ago after a long campaign by supporters.
But his 91-year-old sister Hideko, who often speaks for him, bowed deeply to the judge who declared Hakamada innocent.
“Everyone — we won the acquittal, it’s all thanks to your support,” she said outside the Shizuoka District Court, close to tears with her voice cracking.
Hakamada spent 46 years on death row after being convicted in 1968 of robbing and killing his boss, the man’s wife and their two teenage children.
“Investigators tampered with clothes by getting blood on them” which they then hid in a tank of miso, or fermented soybean paste, said Thursday’s ruling.
It slammed the use of “inhumane interrogations meant to force a statement… by imposing mental and physical pain”.
“The prosecution’s records were obtained by effectively infringing on the defendant’s right to remain silent, under circumstances extremely likely to elicit a false confession,” the ruling said.
Hundreds of people queued in the morning to try to secure a seat for the verdict in a murder saga that has gripped the nation and sparked scrutiny of Japan’s justice system.
Hideko told a post-trial news conference that the not guilty verdict had “sounded divine”.
She wore a white jacket and, asked before the verdict if it symbolised her brother’s innocence, said she had deliberately avoided dark colours.
‘A bout every day’
Japan is the only major industrialised democracy other than the United States to retain capital punishment, a policy that has broad public support.
Hakamada is the fifth death row inmate granted a retrial in Japan’s post-war history. All four previous cases also resulted in exonerations.
His lead lawyer Hideyo Ogawa said Hakamada sometimes seems like he “lives in a world of fantasy” after decades of detention, mostly in solitary confinement.
Describing his battle to obtain an acquittal to AFP in 2018, Hakamada said he felt he was “fighting a bout every day”.
“Once you think you can’t win, there is no path to victory,” he said.
Hakamada appeared not to be immediately aware of the decision, after Japanese media reported that supporters had removed the batteries from his TV remote control on Thursday.
Hideko had told reporters she wanted to tell him the news soon after the verdict, but at the right moment.
He was filmed shortly after the decision leaving home to go for a walk, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and a green hat.
‘Hostage justice’
Hakamada initially denied having robbed and murdered the victims in 1966 but then confessed following what he later described as a brutal police interrogation that included beatings.
Ogawa said after the verdict that 58 years had been “too long” to settle the case but “the fact that the judge found falsification on three major issues was also a very significant milestone”.
The Supreme Court upheld Hakamada’s death sentence in 1980 but his supporters kept up the fight to reopen the case.
A retrial was granted in 2014 and Hakamada was released from prison, although legal wrangling meant the proceedings only began last year.
Supporter Atsushi Zukeran, wearing a T-shirt saying “Free Hakamada Now”, said outside the court that the case was “a painful reminder of how Japan’s criminal justice system must change”.
Given how long the affair dragged on, “part of me wouldn’t be able to celebrate the acquittal entirely”, Zukeran said.
Teppei Kasai, Asia programme officer for Human Rights Watch, told AFP Hakamada’s case was “just one of countless examples of Japan’s so-called ‘hostage justice’ system”.
Amnesty International said Hakamada had endured “almost half a century of wrongful imprisonment and a further 10 years waiting for his retrial”.
Boram Jang, the rights group’s East Asia researcher, said that meant the verdict was “an important recognition of the profound injustice he endured for most of his life”.
AFP
German authorities deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens across five chartered flights between February and June 2026, according to migration monitoring reports.
Data from the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org shows the deportations occurred in phases, with 27 Nigerians returned in February, 37 in March through a joint European Union operation, 24 in April, 23 in May, and 26 in June.
The February operation departed from Stuttgart and landed at Lagos Cargo Airport, with Baden-Württemberg listed as a primary participant. The March operation represented the largest single return of Nigerians recorded over three years and was executed in collaboration with Spain, Austria, and Belgium.
The reports indicate a growing reliance on multi-national chartered flights by European states to repatriate undocumented or non-resident individuals to Nigeria.
The United States has condemned the killing of members of the family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, describing the attack as horrific and urging Nigerian authorities to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement shared on X on Thursday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs expressed condolences to the victims’ families and called for stronger measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“The United States strongly condemns the horrific killing of members of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo’s family in Plateau State, Nigeria. The continued violence targeting Christian communities and other vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is deeply alarming,” the bureau said
The US said it had already engaged Nigerian officials on the worsening security situation, stressing that urgent action was needed to curb recurring attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
“As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts. The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities,” the statement added.
The bureau reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to combat terrorism and violent extremism, stressing that Christians and other Nigerians should be able to practise their faith without fear of violence.
The statement followed the July 12 attack on Kum community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, where nine members of Rev. Dachomo’s extended family, including a two-month-old baby, were killed.
According to the cleric, the attackers, believed to be armed Fulani militias, asked for him by name before opening fire on his relatives.
Dachomo, who serves as Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said his family had repeatedly been targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the violence in Plateau State.
He recalled that his grandmother and an uncle were also killed in previous attacks, adding that days after burying his relatives, he received a written death threat from the same group, warning that he would be their next target.
Saudi Arabia has updated its tourist eVisa programme for 2026, limiting eligibility in Africa to only three countries as part of its list of 66 nations whose citizens can apply through the Kingdom’s online visa platform.
The move leaves most African countries, including Nigeria, outside the simplified entry scheme.
The electronic visa allows eligible travellers to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism, leisure activities, family visits and Umrah, excluding the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Applications are completed online, eliminating the need for embassy visits and lengthy visa processing.
Saudi authorities said the eVisa forms part of ongoing efforts to expand tourism, attract international visitors and simplify travel procedures through a fully digital application system. The visa is available only to citizens of approved countries and territories listed on the Kingdom’s official tourism portal.
Below is the list of African countries eligible for Saudi Arabia’s eVisa.
1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
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