Iwao Hakamada, world's longest-serving death row inmate and former boxer, to get new trial at age 87

Tokyo's high court on Monday ordered a retrial for an 87-year-old former professional boxer who has been on death row for more than five decades after a murder conviction that his lawyers said was based on a forced confession and fabricated evidence.

The Tokyo High Court said Iwao Hakamada, who is the world's longest-serving death row inmate, deserves a retrial because of a possibility that key evidence that led to his conviction could have been fabricated by investigators, the Japan Bar Association said in a statement.

Hakamada has been out of prison but still not cleared of charges since 2014, when the Shizuoka District Court in central Japan suspended his execution and ordered a retrial and his release. That ruling was overturned by the Tokyo High Court until the Supreme Court in 2020 ordered the court to reconsider.