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apfseditor 
On Wednesday, March 19, 2014, the district court handed down its ruling in the Suraj case, a lawsuit seeking state compensation.
The defendant was ordered to pay approximately 2.5 million yen to each of the plaintiffs (Suraju's wife and biological mother).
First, the court found that there was a causal relationship between the actions of the immigration officials and Suraj's cause of death, and acknowledged that the immigration officials' restraining actions caused breathing difficulties and led to "death by suffocation." This is completely different from the prosecution's decision in 2012 that Suraj's cause of death was heart disease.
Next, regarding the illegality of the immigration bureau's actions, even though Suraj's resistance had subsided, the immigration officials continued to force him into a dangerous leaning forward position. The court ruled that such coercive actions went beyond what was necessary and appropriate and therefore were "illegal."
This ruling is a groundbreaking decision as it directly rejects the government's claims.
However, the ruling also cited Suraj's verbal and physical actions that hinted at suicide, and stated that these actions "induced the illegal act of restraint." Neither Suraj's wife nor the support group are convinced of this point. However, in light of the great significance of this ruling, Suraj's wife and the support group APFS have decided to respect it.
We strongly urge the government to take this ruling seriously and not appeal.
March 19, 2014
Suraj's wife
ASIAN PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY (APFS)