Govinda Prasad Mainali, who was granted a retrial that is expected to exonerate him over the 1997 slaying of a Tokyo woman, will leave Friday for Katmandu, returning home for the first time in about 18 years, his supporters said Thursday.
The Nepalese Embassy in Tokyo issued a provisional passport for Mainali, 45, on Thursday so he can depart Friday evening with his wife and two daughters, who came to Japan last week in anticipation of Mainali gaining his release from prison, where he had served 15 years of a life sentence.
Upon his June 7 release from prison, based on the Tokyo High Court's decision to reopen the murder case, Mainali has been in predeportation custody at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau's Yokohama Office. His deportation orders were issued Monday.