The Tokyo High Court will begin the retrial of Govinda Prasad Mainali, a 45-year-old Nepalese man convicted of murder in 1997, on Oct. 29, his lawyers said.
In the retrial, granted in June by the high court, prosecutors will again claim that Mainali is guilty of murdering a Japanese female Tokyo Electric Power Co. worker in March 1997. The victim, an acquaintance of Mainali, engaged in prostitution on the side.
Mainali filed a plea for a retrial in 2005 with the high court. In June, the court ruled that results of a fresh DNA test showed that semen found in and on the victim's body did not match Mainali's, indicating another man was involved in the murder.
After spending about 15 years in prison, Mainali was released in June and deported to Nepal.
The former restaurant employee is likely to be cleared in the retrial as it is widely expected that prosecutors will be unable to present any new evidence that proves his guilt.