Nepali speaks on 1st visit to Japan after being wrongly jailed for murder for 15 years

Sorry about that Govinda, now get out, typical Japan

He was deported to Nepal after his release.

The 51-year-old said he has "yet to receive an apology from Japanese police, prosecutors or judges." In an interview accompanied by his wife Radha, he called it "unreasonable and impermissible."

One could imagine that if he had come from a country with more political clout there would have been an apology made to him years ago.

I hope he finds peace!

No apology and compensation to him?

No apology to the victim's family for letting the real killer escape justice?

Disgraceful.

After returning to Nepal, Mainali plans to set up a nonprofit organization to support victims of wrongful convictions and their families based on his own experiences.

Inspirational stuff.

Not sure I'd be so measured and forward thinking if it happened to me. Well done, sir.

Not sure I'd be so measured and forward thinking if it happened to me. Well done, sir.

Me neither. There but for the grace of god go we all. An admirable man, Mr.Mainali, very impressive.

On what basis was he deported? Did he not renew his gaijin card for 15 years?

Poor guy. I remember this story. He got screwed. Losing out on the young years of your children is something that can never be given back. We only live once, and this guy had a significant portion of that life denied to him.

@ Stewart Gale

He was paid compensation.

Although Govinda was exonerated, the police do not appear to be interested in finding the true murderer.

 convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence

Basically he was convicted because he probably knew the victim or was in the area at the time and that was evidence enough to convict him.

i got off lightly for jaywalking. sign a confession and leave today after 7 hours, or be detained for 48 hours. his life is gone. 51!

the most important fact is...somebody murdered a woman and have been walking around free.

I remember reading about this and being absolutely disgusted with Japan for 2 reasons.

they deported him (I'm guessing to try and shut him up)

there was no apology or acknowledment by the Japanese police, prosecutors or judges regarding the fact that at the time of his conviction the prosecutors sought successfully to supress DNA evidence that might have acquitted him from the onset.

The way he was deported was so nonchaulant and disgusting.

His two daughters, who were a toddler and a baby when he came to Japan in 1994, have both gotten married and now live overseas.

"I wanted to put my daughters on my lap and play with them, but I couldn't. I was deprived of my youth, the most important time of my life."

As a father, I cannot even begin to imagine how that must feel. I really respect him for choosing to come back and not having hatred in his heart. I don't know if I could have.

Basically he was convicted because he probably knew the victim or was in the area at the time and that was evidence enough to convict him.

Actually, what I remember was the prosecuters were able to conceal DNA evidence LEGALLY in order to get a conviction. If anyone can help shed light on this particular aspect, I would be grateful.

I was in Japanese prison for a Visa violation (send time) in 2010/11. Govinda and I were in the same factory at Yokohama Prison. We ran together sometimes in the yard. Nicest guy in the world. He'd say things like, "Mr. Michael, don't worry about yourself. Worry about the good you can do for the world." His father died thinking that his only son was a murderer. He tried to stay upbeat about his case but after 15 years you could see it was wearing him down. Glad to see that he now has

@Hello Kitty 321 Do you happen to know what amount he received as compensation?

This is terrible and probably he will never receive apology because he is gaijin. The real murderer must be Japanese but seems like police is not interested in resolving the case? Deported him? Because of what? They took his life, life of his family, guy deserves to get permanent citizenship (which he should refuse) not deportation. What an animals!

He received 68 million yen in compensation. It seems little, but it’s the highest amount he or anybody else couldhave received in Japan for being falsely imprisoned. I don’t think it happened, it never does because tax payer’s money is so easy to spend, but the cops, prosecutors and high court judges should have been forced to foot the bill out of their own pockets and then some. The cops for having leaned on this fellow, the prosecution for having hidden evidence from the start pointing to another suspect and the high court for having overruled the lower court that had shed doubt on the evidence. Makes you wonder how many other people are languishing behind bars because of such a crappy judiciary.

I read a few articles about this on JT post his release a few years back. For the benefit of who may be wondering what it was all about: He was wrongly convicted for the murder of a local engineer who also moonlighted as a pristitute (may her soul Rest In Peace). He was released after being exonerated and paid about ¥200-300M (what could be a fair amount as payment against a huge part of your lifetime, I don’t know) as compensation. There was absolutely no apology from ANY AUTHORITY whatsoever.

RE: Deportation

Japanese police and immigration collude to make this happen legally under the current laws.

1) Police arrest a foreigner

2) Police detain a foreigner legally or illegally (I.e. without evidence) until the foreigner has stayed beyond the time allowed on their visa

3) Foreigner is now in violation of immigration law and can be arrested on the basis of violating immigration law

4) Foreigner can be jailed and deported for violating immigration law, even if the original charges were false.

5) There is an appeal process that exists on paper, but in reality it cannot be used and the final decision maker is the Minister of Justice, who controls the police and immigration and is Abe's right hand man (Or whoever is the PM at the time).

It makes my blood boil the way he was and is treated by the Japanese authorities. Not even a word of apology. Individuals should also be held accountable.

So what if he spent a few hours with a ho? I hope he has a productive life from here on. He's lost a lot, but there are still things for him to look forward to. And he has every right to bitch about his treatment in Japan. This won't be swept under the rug.

This is terrible and probably he will never receive apology because he is gaijin. 

A miscarriage of justice also took 17 years from a Japanese kindergarten bus driver, Toshikatsu Sugaya, in Ashikaga, Tochigi for the muder of a little girl. But an official apology was given.

He received 68 million yen in compensation

oh I see. I thought it was hundreds of million. I stand corrected.

On what basis was he deported? Did he not renew his gaijin card for 15 years?

@HollisBrownToday:

We can laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but that is essentially what happened. While in prison, he was unable to renew his status of residence and was quickly deported for violating said rules.

moonlighted as a pristitute 

typo: prostitute.

*He received 68 million yen in compensation.. ** *wtf 68million for 15yrs in prison that basically a salarymans wage and he wasnt even free!!, wheres the mental anguish compensation, the loss of his youth , the loss of his family time. J compensation is frigin insulting & disgraceful!!

moral of this story is if your arrested in japan and know your innocent, never ever submit to forced confessions,

even if they torture you, beat you almost to death, say "im innocent!!!"

No apology or compensation. How disgusting and disgraceful.

disgusting i survived manslaughter attempt in 2006 in front of witnesses authorities didn't keep perp in jail one night - welcome to japan am still fighting for justice

@ Aly Rustom Actually, what I remember was the prosecutors were able to conceal DNA evidence LEGALLY in order to get a conviction. If anyone can help shed light on this particular aspect, I would be grateful.

I learned the hard way that J police can and do destroy evidence, lie in reports, fail all steps of due process are unaccountable, ditto for prosecutors when receiving blatantly bogus report does not follow up, does not contact victim, witnesses or doctors, they just 'hanko' the report and send on to a judge who continues the charade all the way up to supreme court at greater and greater cost to victim to dissuade them from continuing. Courts cannot order police to turn over their files and they don't want to anyway. Victim may not even be informed of or invited to court hearings. Judges can ignore scientific evidence, witness testimony, make their decision on a whim or however they're feeling that day of who knows what. Victim are sometimes ordered to pay defendant's court fees. Japanese call their courts 'chaban' a farce. Victims have no recourse unless they want to sue MOJ and NPA, few if any J lawyers want to get involved with such cases, they just want an easy out of court settlement, they'd charge you huge sum if they did take your case. MOF and NPA will dispatch judges to represent them so you'll be fighting against a court full of J judges who are all part of the system, who they gonna believe?