The Shizuoka District Court in Japan has acquitted 88-year-old former professional boxer Iwao Hakamata, who spent more than half a century on death row.
Iwao Hakamata was arrested in 1966 and charged with robbing and murdering his boss, his wife and two children.
After 20 days of interrogation, he confessed to the crime, but later said the confession was obtained under torture, Kyodo reports.
The defense insisted that the evidence in the case was fabricated.
During the retrial, the court found these arguments convincing and acquitted Khakamat.
In 2011, Iwao Hakamatu was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest time on death row.
Following the acquittal, it is expected that prosecutors may appeal the court's decision.
Hakamatu's defence team urged prosecutors not to challenge the acquittal.
