Originally published: Nishi Nippon Shimbun
Publication date: October 16, 2019
Author: Daisuke Kono
Original article location

Abstract: In 1979 the body of a brutally murdered man was discovered in Osaki City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Ayako Haraguchi was charged with the crime but has always maintained her innocence. Recently, Haraguchi’s lawyer called together a meeting of researchers and wrongfully convicted individuals to demand judicial reform.

In Haraguchi’s third request for retrial, a district court and high court initially reviewed the case. In June of this year (2019) the court made the unusual decision to reject the request without returning it to the high court. The defense team has decided to make a fourth claim and is preparing to submit new evidence. “If possible, I would like to be charged within the year or at the latest within the year” says the lawyer.

Meanwhile, at the gathering which included about 110 people, Professor Kana Sasakura from Konan University reported on the situation in the United States in which the false accusations were revealed through DNA testing. “Societies believeing that there is no such thing as wrongful convictions has changed a lot,” she said.

In 2016, Keiko Aoki who was imprisoned for over twenty years for burning six small girls in Osaka in 1995, had his case reopened and was declared innocent. “What happened to me was unfortunate, but I won after my first retrial. It only took twenty years. Compared to Ayako, I had it easier.” The Osaki incident overturned the decision to start three retrials, and criticism has been raised in the prosecutor's appeal, which has been a factor for the lengthy process.