A Nepalese man who spent 15 years behind bars in Japan after being wrongfully accused of murder has thanked supporters who campaigned for him on his first
A Nepalese man who spent 15 years behind bars in Japan after being wrongfully accused of murder has thanked supporters who campaigned for him on his first return to the country since his release in 2012.
Govinda Prasad Mainali, a former restaurant employee in Japan who was convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence of killing a 39-year-old Japanese woman in 1997, also attended a civic meeting to call for the eradication of wrongful convictions.
The 51-year-old said Saturday he has “yet to receive an apology from Japanese police, prosecutors or judges.” During an interview, which was also attended by his wife, Radha, he called it “unreasonable and impermissible.”
He said he has visited popular tourist spots in Tokyo such as Shibuya and Odaiba during his trip, and wondered “why cases of wrongful convictions could occur in a wonderful country like this.”
Although some relatives and friends had told him not to return to Japan as it was “a dangerous country,” Mainali decided to visit because he has “done nothing wrong.
