A man sentenced to life in prison for the 1963 murder of a high school girl spoke out Friday against the Tokyo High Court's recent dismissal of his complaint over not being granted a retrial in 1999.
"I want the label of murderer, which weighs heavily on me, removed," Kazuo Ishikawa, 63, told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo in reference to the high court's dismissal on Wednesday of his formal objection to the 1999 decision not to grant him a retrial.
In response, Ishikawa and his defense team are planning to lodge a special interlocutory appeal on Tuesday.