We submitted 1,354 signatures for the "Don't Appeal" movement in the national compensation lawsuit in the case of Ms. Suraj.

On Friday, March 28, 2014, Mrs. Suraj and APFS staff submitted 1,354 signatures to the Ministry of Justice for the "Don't Appeal" movement in the national compensation lawsuit for Mr. Suraj's case.
Initially, we planned to hold negotiations with the Ministry of Justice and submit our petition along with our request, but the Ministry of Justice stubbornly refused to deal with us, citing the ongoing litigation as their shield, insisting that they could not respond if the parties involved (including Mr. Suraj's family and support groups) came to the meeting.

We were only able to submit our petition and request to staff in the Ministry of Justice lobby. We protested that it was inappropriate to only offer the bereaved family lobby assistance, even if the case was still in litigation. We also strongly requested that the Minister of Justice be informed that the petition had been submitted.

The petition submitted jointly by Mr. Suraj's wife and APFS consists of the following three points:
① Demand a formal apology from the bereaved family.
② Accept the judicial decision and do not appeal.
③ Suspend government-funded repatriation of those who refuse to repatriate until the repatriation situation improves.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped with this petition. So many people worked at the grassroots level and collected signatures in such a short time. We strongly hope that the Ministry of Justice will accept the judicial decision and not appeal.

Also on the same day, the Democratic Party's "Parliamentary League for Multicultural Coexistence," which had long been interested in this case, took action at the Ministry of Justice to request that Ms. Suraj not appeal her national compensation lawsuit.

We understand that House of Representatives member Masaharu Nakagawa, House of Councillors member Michihiro Ishibashi, House of Councillors member Mieko Kamimoto, and House of Councillors member Eri Tokunaga attended today's lobbying efforts. This will undoubtedly be a great help in preventing the appeal.

APFS will continue to work towards resolving the Suraj case. We ask for your continued support and cooperation.