The authorities in New Caledonia have released a man jailed six years ago for the murder of a Japanese tourist because of a procedural error in the court case.
Antoine Kohnu, who has been serving a 15-year prison sentence for killing Mika Kusama on the Ile of Pines, is now free until the case will be heard in the appeal court, possibly at the end of this year.
Kohnu had been arrested with his brother in 2002 after the Japanese woman's body was found but they denied any role in her death.
The lawyer acting for Mika Kusama's parents has told the Nouvelles Caledoniennes newspaper that he wonders how a convicted killer can be freed, saying it is another element in a judicial mess.
