He was unfairly accused of raping a white woman ... an African-American citizen leaves prison after 44 years

African American citizen Ronnie Long regained his freedom after 44 years in prison, accused of raping a white woman without any tangible evidence, this comes amid doubts about the fairness of the trial and questions about the timing of his release.

The French Le Point newspaper said in a report that Long - who spent 44 years behind bars - found it difficult to hide his feelings when he left prison in New London, North Carolina, saying in a statement to a local channel, "You must never give up."

Long, who turned 64, regained his freedom after spending nearly 44 years behind bars, and he had been sentenced to 80 years in prison.

When Long was convicted of raping a white woman in 1976 in Concord, North Carolina, the jury was made up entirely of white judges, and there was no physical evidence of his conviction, according to the French newspaper.

The newspaper adds that Long has struggled tirelessly since then to prove his innocence, and with the help of a team of volunteer lawyers, he has worked to demonstrate "miscarriage of justice" in the ruling against him.

In 2005, the team of lawyers found strong evidence of Long's innocence, which are samples of semen and fingerprints found at the crime scene, which did not match his semen or his fingerprints, but the authorities refused to rely on the evidence at that time, according to what the newspaper quoted. CNN.

A long way

The newspaper quoted Judge Stephanie Tracker as saying that "some information that emerged after the trial indicated a pattern of concern and suspicion regarding the deliberate disregard of the material evidence."

For its part, "CNN" confirms - according to the newspaper - that Long is not considered innocent yet, despite his release, and the court is expected to rule on the issue of innocence in a session whose date has not yet been set.

Long's release comes amid massive anti-racism demonstrations sweeping American cities for months, which likely contributed to his release, according to the French newspaper.

"It's been a long way, but it's over, it's over now," Ronnie Long told the media.

For her part, Ashley - whom Long married in 2014 from behind bars - launched an online fundraising campaign to help her husband recover from the effects of his 44-year prison term, and within two days the donations reached about $ 14,000.