International
Who is Iwao Hakamada, the inmate acquitted after 47 years waiting for a death sentence?
Former professional boxer, converted to Christianity in prison, Iwao Hakamada spent 47 years behing bars waiting for a death sentence that never came and from which the Japanese justice acquitted him this Thursday. It was the end of a tireless struggle to defend his innocence.
Hakamada (Shizuoka, 1936) was sentenced to death in 1968 after being accused of murdering two years earlier the owner of the miso factory (fermented soy) in which he worked, his wife and the couple’s two children and then burning his house.
He tirelessly defended his innocence on the grounds that the evidence that incriminated him was actually manufactured against him, mainly garments found in one of the company’s miso tanks, stained with blood and that matched his DNA. The Japanese justice has finally proved him right.
At 88 years old, with a weakened mental condition due to the almost half century he spent bands (so he holds a Guinness record), the Shizuoka District Court acquitted him this Thursday after the repetition of his trial, a procedure uncommon in Japan, but accepted for Hakamada in 2014.
The former Japanese boxer was released that year from prison, but the magistrates exempted him from appearing in the new trial due to his impaired mental condition. His sister, Hideko Hakamada, and his lawyer, Hideyo Ogawa, two of the pillars of the former convice, took over.
19 days and 228 hours of interrogation
Although he denied the facts when he was arrested in 1966, Hakamada took the charges on September 6 of the same year to “protect his life,” as he said at the time, on the nineteenth day of an interrogation that lasted an average of 12 hours a day.
He again denied having committed the crime in the first hearing of the initial trial and continued to do so in the thousand letters he sent to his family from prison.
The first was written in 1967 and was addressed to his mother, who died the following year although he did not know it until months later.
“It’s been half a year since I last saw you. I’m fine. I’m sorry my family is worried about me. I really have nothing to do with the Kogane Miso incident. I am innocent,” read the manuscript, compiled and published by the Japanese newspaper Asahi, along with the hundreds of letters that happened to the first one.
“They looked a little like my clothes, but there are so many clothes in the world that look like…”, Hakamada wrote before being sentenced in relation to the garments found in the miso tank.
Capital penalty
Hakamada was sentenced to death penalty because the blood with which the clothes found immersed in miso were stained matched his DNA, but the Japanese defended from the beginning that it was a fabricated evidence against him and appealed the sentence.
“I saw them (the blood-stained pants) in court. They seemed too small to me, no matter how I looked at them. If they don’t go well for me, the accusation against me will disappear,” Hakamada wrote in another of the letters to his family.
It was shown that the pants did not correspond to the size of the ex-contain, but the prosecutors and the authorities in charge of the investigation of the case argued that the clothes were small because Hakamada gained weight in prison.
Another of the former boxer’s arguments in the defense of his innocence was that the color of the blood was too dark, a thesis that prosecutors and investigators refuted claiming that the red had acquired a brownish tone by soaking the clothes in miso.
The appeal was rejected, but Hakamada requested in 1981 the repetition of the trial of his case, which was not accepted until 2014, after the prosecution revealed color photographs of the clothing that made the Shizuoka Court doubt the veracity of the evidence due to the color of the blood.
Hakamada’s release was ordered by the Japanese justice 17,388 days after his arrest, when a second trial was accepted, and the Japanese was released from prison at the age of 78.
A life in freedom with his sister
At the current age of 88, Hakamada lives in Hamamatsu, a city located in Shizuoka Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, with his sister Hideko, three years older than him.
He continues to show symptoms of the “institutional psychosis” that was diagnosed in 2008, a mental illness that some prisoners develop and that manifests itself in the form of dizziness, headaches, nausea and paranoia. He also claims to be God.
International
EU Faces Migration Crisis After 60,000 Migrants Arrive in Spain’s Ceuta Enclave
The arrival of around 60,000 migrants from Morocco to Spain’s Ceuta enclave triggered a major European Union crisis on Friday, after Madrid described the situation as an “attack” on its territorial integrity.
At least 34 people died while attempting to reach the Spanish territory, according to local authorities.
Hundreds of migrants had begun arriving in Ceuta earlier in the week, either by swimming across the border or climbing security fences. Most of those who entered were young men and teenagers.
However, the situation escalated dramatically early Thursday morning, when the number of arrivals surged within a few hours, reaching nearly 60,000 people. According to the Spanish government, the vast majority of them — around 48,000 migrants — had returned to Morocco by Friday evening.
The episode represents one of the most serious migration crises faced by the autonomous city of Ceuta, which has a population of around 84,000 residents, in recent years.
Several European countries responded strongly to the crisis, with Italy announcing the temporary suspension of the Schengen free movement agreement with Spain, a measure supported by Finland and Denmark.
“The temporary suspension of Schengen with Spain is a necessary decision to protect the security of our citizens and defend Europe’s borders,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a post on X.
Italy’s Interior Ministry confirmed that the country had tightened controls on maritime and air entry points from Spain, but clarified that the measure would not affect Spanish or European citizens traveling to Italy.
The additional checks will specifically target non-European citizens arriving from Spain, according to the ministry.
The measure will remain in effect for one month starting Saturday, authorities said.
Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares responded to the Italian announcement through a statement on X, as European governments continued discussions over the consequences of the migration crisis.
International
Chuck Schumer Unveils Proposal to Strengthen Oversight of the U.S. Presidency
U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday announced legislation to establish a federal anti-corruption office aimed at strengthening oversight of the executive branch and preventing future presidents from using the White House for personal financial gain.
Schumer said the proposal was prompted by what he described as President Donald Trump’s misuse of the presidencyto benefit his family’s business interests.
“In just 18 months, the Trump family has made more than $4 billion by exploiting the influence of the presidency,” Schumer alleged.
The New York senator also argued that the alleged corruption has had direct economic consequences for American households.
“The same corrupt practices Trump is using to pocket billions of dollars are also forcing Americans to pay, on average, $3,100 more each year because of the rising cost of living,” he said.
The legislation was introduced alongside Democratic Senators Alex Padilla, Jeff Merkley, and Andy Kim.
According to Schumer, the bill has two primary objectives: “First, to return money to the American people. Second, to ensure that no one can ever steal from them again.”
He added that the proposal would create legal mechanisms allowing citizens to seek the recovery of funds allegedly obtained through government corruption.
“The fact that Trump stole money from the American people does not make it his. Americans deserve to get that money back,” Schumer said.
Under the proposed legislation, any U.S. citizen—as well as state attorneys general acting on behalf of their residents—would be authorized to file civil lawsuits to recover funds allegedly acquired through corrupt practices by public officials.
“Our bill would empower any individual, including a state attorney general acting on behalf of the people of that state, to bring legal action to recover money stolen from the public through government corruption,” Schumer said.
The measure is expected to face debate in Congress, where Republicans and Democrats remain deeply divided over executive accountability and the scope of presidential powers.
International
Trump Administration Urges Latin America to Increase Defense Spending Against Organized Crime
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Latin American countries to increase investment in defense and security to strengthen the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking networks.
The appeal was made by Elbridge Colby, the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in an article published by Americas Quarterly. Colby argued that governments across the region should assume greater responsibility for protecting their territories from transnational criminal organizations.
“It is essential that our neighbors in the region invest more in their own defense and security. There is no reason why any country, especially those facing significant narco-terrorist threats, should spend so little on defense,” Colby wrote.
The Pentagon official described it as “absurd” that some Latin American nations allocate less than 1% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense, although he did not identify the countries. He contrasted that with NATO members in Europe, many of which are increasing defense expenditures to 3.5% of GDP, with an additional 1.5% devoted to security-related investments.
Colby, who participated earlier this month in the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in Cusco, Peru, said there is “a historic opportunity” for the United States and its regional partners to strengthen cooperation against drug trafficking and other transnational threats.
He also defended the proposed Shield of the Americas, a military partnership promoted by the Trump administration to combat organized crime and supported by several conservative governments in the region. The initiative does not include Brazil or Mexico.
In addition, Colby said the administration’s security strategy includes an updated interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, the long-standing U.S. foreign policy principle that historically viewed Latin America as part of Washington’s sphere of influence.
“Of course, we recognize that the Monroe Doctrine is controversial in many circles. But it is also frequently misunderstood,” he said.
According to Colby, the United States is not seeking “exploitation, subordination or dependence,” but rather a region characterized by greater prosperity, stability and security.
He also stated that Washington is prepared to use “all available resources,” including the U.S. Armed Forces, to combat drug trafficking and irregular migration. Colby highlighted ongoing counternarcotics operations in the Caribbean, despite criticism from human rights organizations that have questioned some missions over allegations of extrajudicial killings in international waters.
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