The Fukawa Case
54 Years in the Courts: Justice Achieved!!
29 Years in Prison: Paroled 1996!
Takeo SUGIYAMA (left)
& Shoji SAKURAI (rightI
May 25, 2011:
Exonerated!
Final Victory:
High Court Awards
Yen 76,000,000
($685,000)
in damages.
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An Egregious Case of Wrongful Conviction
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Indignation into Lyrics and Music!
While in prison, Shoji Sakurai, (the shorter of the two), began writing poems and arranging music. While still incarcerated, a well known pianist and vocalist collaborated to produce a CD with the songs. Entitled, "Kabe no Uta (Songs of the Wall), the CD was released and has drawn much attention.
Later Events
1) Takeo Sugiyama did not participate in the civil suite. He passed away in 2015.
2) In October, 2020, Sakurai announced that he has stage 4 cancer.
3) The Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan featured Sakurai and two other prominent victims of wrongful prosecution at a news conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRfHmvo9_Mo