
On Wednesday, March 19, 2014, the district court handed down its ruling in the national compensation lawsuit in the case of Ms. Suraj.
The court ordered the defendant to pay approximately 2.5 million yen each to the plaintiffs (Mr. Suraj's wife and his mother).
The court first determined that there was a causal relationship between the actions of the immigration officer and the cause of Suraj's death, acknowledging that he died of "suffocation" due to respiratory distress caused by the immigration officer's restraint. This is completely different from the prosecution's 2012 judgment that Suraj's cause of death was heart disease.
Next, regarding the illegality of the immigration officers' actions, the court ruled that they were "illegal" because, despite Suraj's resistance having subsided, the immigration officers forced him into a dangerous bent-over position, and such restraint exceeded necessity and reasonableness.
This ruling directly rejects the government's claims and is a groundbreaking decision.
However, the judgment cited Suraj's actions, including his suicidal remarks, and stated that these actions "incited illegal suppression." Neither Suraj's wife nor the support group agrees with this point. Nevertheless, considering the great significance of this judgment, Suraj's wife and the support group APFS have decided to respect the ruling.
We strongly urge the government to take this ruling seriously and not appeal.
March 19, 2014
Suraj wife
ASIAN PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY (APFS)
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