Nepal man cleared of murder after 15 years in Japan jail
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A supporter of Nepalese man Govinda Prasad Mainali holds a banner which reads 'Not Guilty at Retrial' in front of the Tokyo High Court in Tokyo on Nov 7, 2012. 46-year-old Mr Mainali who spent 15 years in a Japanese jail for a murder he did not commit was formally acquitted on Nov 7 after a retrial. -- PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO (AFP) - A Nepalese man who spent 15 years in a Japanese jail for a murder he did not commit was formally acquitted on Wednesday after a retrial.
Mr Govinda Prasad Mainali, 46, was declared not guilty by the Tokyo High Court, at a short hearing held despite his having been deported to Nepal weeks ago after his conviction was quashed earlier this year.
The same court had in 2000 found him guilty of killing a 39-year-old woman and sentenced him to life in prison, overturning a lower court's not-guilty verdict.
The Supreme Court upheld Mr Mainali's life sentence in 2003.
