Tokyo’s High Court has ordered a retrial for Iwao Hakamada, an 87-year-old former professional boxer and the world’s longest-serving death row inmate. Hakamada’s lawyers argue his conviction was based on a forced confession and fabricated evidence.

The court agreed there was a possibility that key evidence, blood-stained clothing allegedly worn during the crime, was fabricated. Hakamada has been on death row for over five decades after the ex-boxer was convicted of murder in 1966.

Ex-boxer To Get Reprieve?

Lengthy appeals and retrial processes contributed to his prolonged time on death row. The court’s decision acknowledges scientific experiments that cast doubt on the clothing evidence, suggesting fabrication likely occurred.