Uzbek man in 2009 taxi murder case granted retrial after 16 years

An Uzbek man, Bozorov Akmal, who spent over 16 years behind bars for a life sentence of robbery-murder and other charges, was released on Thursday after a court granted him a retrial. The decision was made due to significant issues with the police investigation that led to his conviction. Akmal, now 37, walked out of Changwon Prison that evening, following the Changwon District Court's suspension of his sentence pending a final ruling in the retrial.

He embraced his father, who awaited outside the prison. Akmal expressed his suffering, acknowledging that he felt wrongly imprisoned, while also expressing regret for the pain caused to the victim's family. He pledged to speak truthfully during the remaining court proceedings. The case began on March 24, 2009, when a taxi driver in his 50s was discovered murdered inside a taxi parked in an alley in Myeongseo-dong, Changwon, in South Gyeongsang Province.

On July 6 of the same year, police arrested three individuals, including Akmal, who was 19 at the time, in connection with a separate taxi robbery. Subsequently, police identified Akmal as a suspect.