Japan: Seeking retrial for executed inmate part of anti-death penalty struggle

An ongoing effort to seek a retrial for an executed death row inmate is also part of a struggle to abolish the death penalty in Japan, a lawyer involved in the retrial petition said Monday.

"It is likely that innocent people will be mistakenly killed by the state as long as capital punishment is maintained," the lawyer, Yasuyuki Tokuda, told a citizens meeting in Tokyo. "I want to appeal for the termination of the death penalty while working on the petition for a retrial."

Tokuda represents the bereaved family of Michitoshi Kuma, who was convicted of kidnapping and killing 2 7-year-old girls in Iizuka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in 1992, a murder known as the "Iizuka Case." Kuma, who was hanged in October 2008 at the age of 70, consistently pleaded his innocence.

His widow petitioned for a retrial last October with the Fukuoka District Court, arguing false DNA test results had led to his conviction.

Tokuda met with Kuma around a month before the execution and agreed to prepare for the filing of the retrial petition, he said.

"He told me to make full preparations by collecting significant new evidence to open the door for a retrial as he believed he still had enough time as only 2 years had passed since his death sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in 2006," Tokuda said.

Kuma was executed without prior notice being given to his family, his lawyers or even himself, which is the normal practice in Japan, said Tokuda. "I've blamed myself since as his execution may have been prevented if I had helped him to file the retrial petition anyway."

Tokuda and his fellow lawyers have submitted to the district court test results from a forensic expert and professor at Tsukuba University, which show Kumas DNA was different from the culprit's.

The expert is known for his involvement in fresh DNA analysis that found the DNA of a convicted man did not match the bodily fluid taken from a 4-year-old girl killed in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, in 1990.

The man, Toshikazu Sugaya, will be acquitted following his ongoing retrial after spending 17 years in jail.

"It is irrevocable if an innocent person is executed," Tokuda told an audience of around 40. "It will shake up Japan's use of the death penalty if the retrial for Mr Kuma starts and proves his innocence as it would prove murder by the state."

Source: Kyodo News, January 26, 2010