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Menda was at a guesthouse in the company of a prostitute when the murder took place; the prostitute was coerced by police into stating they had met on a different day. Menda was charged with two counts of murder and robbery, to which he pled innocent; he was convicted. On March 23, 1950, Judge Haruo
Kinoshita sentenced him to death. The
246:, murdered them using an axe and a knife, and wounded their two young daughters, aged 12 and 14; during this time. In January 1949, Menda, a poor and illiterate farmhand who also sold rice on the black market, was arrested after being accused of stealing rice. He was released, but soon after re-arrested on suspicion of the murder.
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was only provided to Menda after he had confessed. The lawyer, a
Buddhist monk, came to pray for him; Menda was offered no professional expertise to help him fight the charges, and instead told to accept his charges. His trial did not include any physical evidence or the witness accounts that proved
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The government gave Menda ÂĄ700 for every day he was in prison: 90 million yen in total (approximately 2009 USD $ 990,540). He donated half of that to a group campaigning to abolish the death penalty. Menda also became a death-penalty abolitionist after his release. Japan and the United States are
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sticks while being suspended upside down from a ceiling, and not allowed access to a lawyer. One interrogator threatened to "break his head with a 1.8-liter glass sake bottle” if Menda did not confess to the murder. The police eventually coerced Menda into signing a written statement confirming he
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to Menda's lawyers prior to his trial. The court acknowledged that the police had concealed his alibi showing he was not at the scene of the crime. Menda was released at age 57 after 12,599 days (34 years) in prison. He was the first person ever released from death row in Japan.
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to globally abolish capital punishment, describing the psychological and dehumanising effects that he encountered while on death row. The scandal in the aftermath of Menda's release prompted reform and aided a reintroduction of
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On July 15, 1983, after 80 judges had been involved, the court delivered the verdict of an acquittal based on determination that he had falsely confessed and that the prosecution had failed to disclose
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the only members of the Group of Seven industrialised nations to retain capital punishment. Menda spoke at the 2007 World
Congress against the death penalty, and lobbied delegates of the
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The retrial began on
September 27, 1979. The retrial allowed records that proved his alibi to be submitted, as well as a statement from a witness saying that she had lied under duress.
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Menda submitted six petitions for retrial although initially he did not have access to a lawyer. The
Fukuoka District High Court ruled on the reopening of the case in 1979.
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528:"VOX POPULI: Falsely convicted of murder, Sakae Menda fought for human rights | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis"
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Police held Menda in their custody for 23 days. While imprisoned, he was starved of food and water, not allowed to sleep, and beaten with
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After his release, he criticised Japan's execution policy, and tried to bring an end to the practice in Japan.
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in Japan, as well as showing the
Japanese legal system's over-reliance on conviction by means of confession.
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Menda had difficulty claiming his state pension as he had been unable to sign up during his time in prison.
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by retrial in Japan. He was a leading figure in Japan for the movement to abolish the death penalty.
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612:. Amnesty International. 16 October 2007 Economic and Social Council Chamber, United Nations
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The Next
Frontier : National Development, Political Change, and the Death Penalty in Asia
385:), detailing Sakae's life on death row, was released in 1998. In 2004, Menda released a book,
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503:"The Life of Sakae Menda, the Man who Spent 34 Years in Prison for Crime He Didn't Commit"
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On
December 30, 1948, an unknown killer broke into the house of a 76-year-old
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708:"Sakae Menda, figure de la lutte contre la peine capitale au Japon, est mort"
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He died of natural causes on
December 5, 2020, aged 95, in a nursing home in
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was a
Japanese man who was wrongfully convicted of a double-homicide and
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472:"Japan's 1st Death-Row Convict Acquitted in Retrial Dies at 95"
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in 1983. This was the first time anyone was ever released from
690:"Secrecy of Japan's Executions Is Criticized as Unduly Cruel"
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during a protest against the death penalty on 3 February 2007
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Interview with Sakae Menda on Amnesty Internationals channel
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Johnson, David T.; Zimring, Franklin E. (February 2, 2009).
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Japanese man wrongfully sentenced to death (1925–2020)
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628:Rodgers, Paul; Nishimoto, Kyoko (April 19, 2009).
630:"Juries return to Japanese courts after 66 years"
451:McNeill, David; Mason, C. M. (August 4, 2007).
242:priest and his 52-year-old wife in the city of
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710:by Philippe Mesmer, Le Monde, December 6, 2020
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574:"Q&A: 'Confessions Are Not Always True'"
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268:upheld his sentence on December 25, 1951.
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679:. June 4, 2009, Retrieved March 12, 2014.
666:"JAPAN: Man off death row wants pension "
594:"Freed man slams executions of innocent"
583:. Inter Press Service. October 24, 2007.
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212:, November 4, 1925 – December 5, 2020)
812:People wrongfully convicted of murder
807:Prisoners sentenced to death by Japan
787:Japanese prisoners sentenced to death
777:Japanese anti–death penalty activists
643:"REVIVING THE CRIMINAL JURY IN JAPAN"
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720:"Menda Sakae: Gokuchu no Sei (1998)"
592:Magee, Seana K. (October 19, 2007).
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453:"One who has lived to tell the tale"
408:List of miscarriage of justice cases
403:List of exonerated death row inmates
688:French, Howard W. (June 30, 2002).
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797:Overturned convictions in Japan
501:Hernon, Matthew (2020-12-11).
287:In prison, Menda converted to
276:Menda was incarcerated at the
244:Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto Prefecture
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654:Duke University School of Law
383:Sakae Menda: A Life in Prison
295:and transcribing books into
259:had committed the murder. A
728:. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
675:. Seniors World Chronicles/
564:. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
379:Menda Sakae: Gokuchu no Sei
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802:People acquitted of murder
752:Wrongly Convicted Database
373:Documentary film and book
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772:Converts to Christianity
641:Kiss, Lester W. (1999).
558:Oxford University Press
218:in 1949, but was later
122:of all charges in 1983
616:June 25, 2009, at the
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291:and began reading the
266:Supreme Court of Japan
632:. Fathers 4 Justice.
377:A documentary movie,
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316:exculpatory evidence
282:solitary confinement
280:Detention Center in
782:Japanese Christians
725:The New York Times
695:The New York Times
671:2009-06-08 at the
648:2011-03-06 at the
610:"Panel Discussion"
579:2009-08-08 at the
413:Sadamichi Hirasawa
367:Fukuoka prefecture
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334:, Sakae Menda and
323:Life after release
216:sentenced to death
109:Anti-death penalty
77:Fukuoka Prefecture
532:The Asahi Shimbun
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391:Prison Notes
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387:Gokuchu noto
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289:Christianity
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174:(overturned)
155:(2 counts),
99:Gokuchu noto
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94:Notable work
67:(2020-12-05)
792:2020 deaths
767:1925 births
350:jury trials
209:Menda Sakae
197:Sakae Menda
190:Tamae Menda
23:Sakae Menda
761:Categories
537:2022-12-30
513:2022-12-30
482:2022-12-30
476:nippon.com
429:References
234:Background
220:exonerated
161:overturned
134:Exonerated
120:Not guilty
85:Occupation
47:1925-11-04
560:. p. 46.
228:death row
669:Archived
646:Archived
614:Archived
577:Archived
397:See also
240:Buddhist
105:Movement
88:Activist
747:YouTube
303:Retrial
297:Braille
278:Fukuoka
224:retrial
159:(1949;
157:robbery
124:retrial
116:Verdict
79:, Japan
261:lawyer
256:bamboo
187:Spouse
136:(1983)
130:Status
363:ĹŚmuta
293:Bible
172:Death
73:ĹŚmuta
55:Japan
62:Died
41:Born
745:on
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222:by
203:ĺ…Ťç”°ć „
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