World’s longest-serving death row inmate, 88, is Acquitted 56 years after he was sentenced

In a landmark ruling, the Shizuoka District Court on Thursday acquitted Iwao Hakamada, the world’s longest-serving death row prisoner. The 88-year-old former boxer was convicted of a 1968 murder in Japan.After decades of legal battles, Hakamada’s supporters secured a retrial in 2014. The court found that the evidence against him had been fabricated and coerced.Judge Koshi Kunii declared Hakamada innocent, ending a decades-long ordeal that had drawn international attention. The acquittal has reignited scrutiny of Japan’s justice system, which critics say often relies on forced confessions.Hakamada’s case has . . .