A judge in the US state of Maryland on Monday overturned the life sentence of Adnan Said, rehabilitated after nearly 23 years, after a popular podcast called his case into question, Reuters reported.

Syed’s conviction gained public attention in the United States after the podcast “Serial,” produced by several American investigative journalists, profiled him, calling into question many elements of the case that led to his conviction.

Syed, now 42, has always maintained his innocence, saying he did not kill Hye Min Lee, an 18-year-old girl who was strangled and buried in a Baltimore city park in 1999.

Judge Melissa Finn ordered on Monday that Syed be released from prison, where he is serving a life sentence, and placed under house arrest pending a new trial.

Syed left the courtroom with a smile as he was cheered and cheered by bystanders and those waiting outside.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office requested that Syed’s conviction be overturned

Baltimore’s attorney general filed a motion to overturn his conviction after a year-long investigation uncovered several irregularities involving witnesses and evidence used in the trial that led to his conviction.

U.S. prosecutors stressed in court that they do not claim Syed is innocent, but that they are no longer convinced of the “integrity of the conviction,” demanding that the man be set for a new trial.

They also said Syed should be released from prison, where he has spent nearly 23 years, while they complete their investigation and decide whether to seek a new trial or charge another suspect.

Prosecutors also said they had uncovered new information about two other potential suspects, one of whom threatened Lee with death before her murder. Both suspects have facts of violence against women.

The identities of the two were known to prosecutors handling the original case, but they did not disclose them to Syed’s lawyers, as required by law.

The main violations in the process that led to the husband’s conviction

The new prosecutors who reopened his case also concluded that a key witness and the detective who investigated the crime were unreliable.

In addition, US prosecutors have uncovered new information that casts doubt on Syed’s phone records, which their predecessors relied on to secure the man’s conviction.

Young Lee, the brother of the murdered young woman, told the court he was shocked and that his family felt betrayed by American justice after it upheld the conviction for more than two decades.

“It’s really hard to go through this over and over and over again,” he said through tears, adding that the situation was a “living nightmare.”

The “Serial” podcast on Chicago radio station WBEZ has been bringing Syed’s case to the public since 2014.

Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s attorney general, said at a news conference after the verdict was overturned that her office is awaiting the results of a new DNA test before announcing what next steps it will take.