A retrial will begin in Japan for a man convicted of killing a girl 38 years ago. The man has consistently proclaimed his innocence.

Maekawa Shoshi, now 59 years old, served a seven-year prison term after he was found guilty of killing a junior high school student in Fukui City, on the Sea of Japan coast, in 1986.

The key factor for his conviction was accounts by witnesses who claimed they saw Maekawa wearing blood-stained clothing on the night of the incident.

The Kanazawa branch of the Nagoya High Court ordered a retrial on the case on Wednesday. It said the accounts were not credible, and that there are lingering questions about whether investigators acted appropriately when obtaining them.

Prosecutors said on Monday that they decided not to file an objection to the decision after they closely examined the order and comprehensively considered evidence.

Maekawa has been claiming his innocence since he was arrested. The retrial will open 20 years after he first asked for it.

In the case, he was first found not guilty, but he was ruled guilty in a second trial. In 2011, the court granted a retrial, but it was canceled after prosecutors objected.