Japanese man who spent 46 years on death row cleared of murders

Iwao Hakamada was sentenced to hang in 1968. Photograph: AP

A Japanese man who spent almost half a century on death row has been found not guilty of multiple murders, in a closely watched trial that has raised questions about Japan’s use of the death penalty.

Iwao Hakamada, 88, was sentenced to hang in 1968 after being found guilty of murdering his boss, his wife and their two teenage children, and setting fire to their home two years earlier.