An 88-year-old man believed to be the world’s longest-serving death row inmate was exonerated by a district court in Japan on Thursday, 44 years after he was first sentenced to death.

       The man, Iwao Hakamada, was originally convicted of a quadruple murder in 1966 on the basis of what his defense lawyers say was a forced confession and fabricated evidence. Japan’s Supreme Court sentenced him to death in 1980. He was released a decade ago and granted a retrial that began last fall.

       Over the years, Mr. Hakamada, a former featherweight boxer, had consistently testified that he pleaded guilty only after the police intensively interrogated him for 20 days, beating him with sticks and depriving him of sleep. He retracted his confession soon after making it.

       Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.