From the Wrongful Convictions Blog: International Innocence Round-up

Family members of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a former Nigerian intelligence officer convicted of the bombing of Pan Am 103,  are

claiming

that he was wrongfully convicted. Al-Megrahi maintained his innocence until his death on May 20, 2012, and details of the case remain unclear.

According to a

New Zealand detective

, an innocent man has spent nearly 20 years behind bars, convicted of a brutal rape and murder he did not commit.

Sam Hallam, a British man who spent seven years in jail for a 2004 gang killing that he did not commit, was

released

on May 17.

Since 2004, 163 cases have been reopened by the

Norwegian Criminal Cases Review Commission (NCCRC)

after new evidence cast doubt upon the convictions.

Effort

s continue to exonerate Sadamichi Hirasawa, a Japanese artist who was sentenced to death in 1950 for the murder of a bank employee. Hirasawa died in 1987, still on death row, at the age of 95.

After spending more than 40 years on death row, 86 year-old

Masaru Okunishi

may yet receive a new trial. The Nagoya high court will rule on May 25 whether Okunishi, convicted of poisoning dozens, will be retried.