THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
April 6, 2023 at 17:37 JST
Over government objections, the legal team for the bereaved family of a Sri Lankan woman who died at an immigration detention facility released portions of the security camera footage to the media on April 6.
They show Wishma Sandamali's deteriorating health through her final moments.
The legal team said it obtained permission from the family of Wishma, who died at the age of 33 in the Nagoya Regional Immigration Services Bureau facility two years ago.
“We want people to know the reality of the immigration facility,” said lawyer Chie Komai.
Around five minutes of the five hours of footage submitted by the government as evidence was released.
The scenes include Wishma complaining to immigration officials that she was unable to drink on her own and pleading to be taken to a hospital, as well as her situation on March 6, 2021, the day she died.
She was confirmed dead at the hospital about an hour after the final scene.
The footage is set to be screened in Nagoya District Court in June and July in the lawsuit filed by bereaved family members seeking compensation from the central government.
The government demanded that the footage not be released outside of the lawsuit, citing safety concerns at the immigration facility.
But it said that “there is no legal way to ban the spread of the footage.” The government asked the Nagoya District Court to take measures such as urging the bereaved family to pledge not to release the video.
However, the legal team claims that the release poses no legal problem since it notified the court in advance.
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Wishma Sandamali’s sisters Wayomi, right, and Poornima speak to reporters in Tokyo in December 2022, holding DVDs that contain video footage submitted by the government as evidence. (Toshinari Takahashi)
