Podcast »Serial«: The sentence against US prisoner Adnan Syed is to be overturned

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Adnan Syed (2016)

Photo: Carlos Barria / REUTERS

An audience of millions followed the Adnan Syed case.

And many of those listening to the hit podcast »Serial« believe he is innocent.

Now there has been an unexpected legal twist.

A US prosecutor has requested that Syed's murder conviction be overturned.

The 42-year-old has been in prison for 22 years on charges of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 1999.

Syed has maintained his innocence to this day, but numerous appeals have been rejected.

Finally, on Wednesday, prosecutor Marilyn Mosby surprisingly announced that she had applied for the verdict to be overturned.

Mosby said Syed should be released while prosecutors consider whether to reopen the case or drop the charges against him.

The reason for her step is "new information" about two other possible suspects and "unreliable mobile phone data".

Syed deserves "a new trial where he is properly defended and the most recent evidence can be presented," the prosecutor said.

Syed's case became known through the "Serial" podcast, in which US journalists highlighted the case and questioned Syed's guilt.

In the course of their research for the podcast, the authorities came across a witness who was never heard, although her testimony would have exonerated Syed.

Syed's former classmate claims to have seen him in the library at the time of the crime and thus confirms his previous statements.

Doubts about the accuracy of radio cell queries

So far, it is unclear whether the information from the podcast was in any way incorporated into the prosecutor's recent decision.

A documentary series entitled »The Case Against Adnan Syed« also ran on the US broadcaster HBO.

In the murder trial, prosecutors had portrayed Syed as a "spurned lover" who killed his ex-girlfriend after she broke up with him.

According to prosecutor Mosby, however, new investigations revealed two other possible suspects.

In addition, there are doubts about the accuracy of radio cell queries, which were intended to prove Syed's whereabouts on the day of the murder.

jok/AFP