Japan court orders retrial for 87-year death row ex-boxer

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo’s high court has ordered a retrial for an 87-year-old former boxer who has been on death row for more than five decades. The court says he deserves a retrial because of a possibility that his murder conviction was based on forced confession and fabricated evidence. Hakamada was temporarily released in 2014, but still not cleared of charges, when the Shizuoka District Court in central Japan suspended his execution and ordered a retrial. That ruling was overturned by the Tokyo High Court until the Supreme Court in 2020 ordered the lower court to reconsider. He initially denied charges of killing a company manager and three family members then confessed but later said he was forced to do so because of violent interrogation by police.