A convict on death row, who is asserting his innocence...

A convict on death row, who is asserting his innocence and seeking a retrial, met his lawyers for the first time in nearly 12 years at the Tokyo detention house.
Iwao Hakamada, 67, a former pro boxer who was sentenced to death for the murder of a family of four in 1966 in Shizuoka Prefecture, had not had access to legal counsel since May 1991.
The lawyers confirmed that Hakamada is mentally unstable and are seeking to prevent his sentence being carried out, said lawyer Kenzo Akiyama at a press conference.
"There is no problem with him physically, but he lives in a world of delusion," said Akiyama. "(Under the law), the death penalty cannot be carried out on persons who are mentally unstable. As lawyers, we want to consider what measures we can take as soon as possible."
Akiyama said that the lawyers, together with Hakamada's sister, met with Hakamada for around 30 minutes. Hakamada was in good physical health and had put on weight, but spoke deliriously, he said.
Akiyama quoted Hakamada as saying, "I am in the mountains. I am an omnipotent god and have absorbed Iwao Hakamada."
Hakamada's sister had continuously sought access to him over the last several years. Hakamada, however, had rejected her requests, and she had succeeded in meeting with her brother only twice for just several minutes.
Hakamada's death sentence was confirmed in 1980. The Shizuoka District Court rejected an appeal for a retrial. The Tokyo High Court is currently deliberating an appeal against the lower court's ruling.