お花はんさんの おぼえた日記 - 2023年3月21日(火)

えむ(笑む)　わらふ　ゑらく

えら・く〔ゑらく〕
［動カ四］喜び楽しむ。
「黒き白きの御酒(みき)を赤丹のほにたまへ―・き」〈続紀宣命・三八詔)

ゑら－ゑら
副詞
〔多く下に「に」を伴って〕騒ぎ笑い楽しむさま。
出典万葉集　四二六六
「紐（ひも）解き放さけて千年（ちとせ）寿ほき寿きとよもしゑらゑらに仕へ
まつるを見るが貴（たふと）さ」
[訳] 衣の紐を解き放って、（大君の）千年の御代を祝い、いっせいに大声で
お祝いの声をあげ、騒ぎ笑い楽しんでお仕え申し上げる。これを見るのは貴い
ことだ。


The Asahi Shimbun
Tears of joy were shed by lawyers and supporters of Iwao Hakamada
on March 20 after they learned prosecutors would not file a special
appeal of a high court ruling calling for his retrial.
Hakamada’s sister, Hideko, 90, met with reporters outside of her home
in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and said, “All my fatigue until
yesterday just blew away. I am so happy the only word I can think of is
‘thank you.’ I also express my respect to the prosecutors for not filing
an appeal.”
Hideko informed her brother of the prosecutors’ decision, but she told
reporters that he showed no response to the good news.
Iwao has suffered from mental problems due to the long time he spent
on death row.
Prosecutors had until March 20 to make an appeal, but informed
Hakamada’s legal team that they would not do so.
Hakamada had been on death row for decades for the murder of four
individuals in what is now Shizuoka city in 1966.
Hakamada’s lawyers had decided to hold a news conference regardless
of what decision was made by prosecutors.
One of the lawyers, Hideyo Ogawa, entered the conference room with
tears streaming down his face.
“I thought there was no reason to make a special appeal, but I am really
happy,” Ogawa said. “I want a not guilty verdict for Hakamada as soon
as possible.”
The Shizuoka District Court will be the site for Hakamada’s retrial and he
is expected to be exonerated of the murder charge.
The head of the legal team, Katsuhiko Nishijima, blasted the prosecutors
for what he called “wasteful legal proceedings” that only served to add to
the worries of Hakamada and his sister for many years.
“I want the retrial to start as soon as possible so we can prove Iwao is
innocent,” Nishijima said.
He also called for a comprehensive reform of the legal system regarding
retrials in light of what he said were tactics to prolong the proceedings
by prosecutors.
For their part, prosecutors did not give a clear reason for their decision to
not appeal, but one expert said they likely realized there were no logical
explanations to back a decision to file a special appeal.
Provisions for making such an appeal call for a clear constitutional violation
or violation of past court verdicts.
Toshiaki Fujii, a criminal procedure law professor at Nihon University who
once worked as a prosecutor, said, “There would have been a high hurdle
to overcome to overturn the Tokyo High Court decision (for a retrial) before
the Supreme Court.”
But another lawyer who also once worked as a prosecutor said a special
appeal should have been filed.
Yasuyuki Takai said prosecutors handling the retrial case before the Tokyo
High Court did an inadequate job over the main point of the case—the change
to a blood stain found on clothing alleged to have been worn by Hakamada at
the time of the murder.
Takai said prosecutors should have filed a special appeal and sought out an
expert who could provide a scientific assessment of how the blood stain
could have changed color.