The 9th court hearing was held in Mr. Suraj’s trial for state compensation.

The 9^th court hearing in Mr. Suraj’s trial for state compensation was held on May 13^th (Mon) from 3:30 pm at the Court Room No. 706 of the Tokyo Regional Court. Observer seats were full, with people not being able to sit down waiting outside.

On this date, the plaintiff side (the Mr. Suraj Attorney Team) made their claims. This time, it was a court room where we could watch and listen to video, so the attorney team used Power Point to expand their claims with regard to the circumstances of Mr. Suraj’s deportation and the illegality of the immigration officers’ actions, and to explain about in a simple manner about the cause of Mr. Surja’s death. Later, a video recording of Mr. Suraj’s deportation was played as a basis for evidence behind these claims.

The content of the video recording was just 5 minutes showing how the immigration officers took Mr. Suraj from the wagon parking near the plane to inside. However, even though Mr. Suraj was not agitated and speaking calmly in Japanese, the immigration officers swiftly cuffed his feet as if they were planning for it and carried him on board by several of them holding him. It was quite different from the claims of the immigration officers that they took these actions because he went berserk.

It was only few minutes of video recording, but the observers were watching how Mr. Suraj was deported withholding their breaths. To see the real circumstances of Mr. Suraj’s deportation on video must have come as a shock to observers, even if they have heard about it. For instance, Mr. Suraj’s cousin was also among the observers, but he had to leave because he could not stand seeing the last minutes of Mr. Suraj.

After showing the video, the presiding judge said that if we would like to have judgment this fiscal year, plans for immediate questioning and confirmation of facts should be made quickly. The defendant side, that is the state, mentioned that they would like to have 3 months for gathering medical opinions, but the chief judge made it clear that ‘we cannot wait’.

After the hearing, we took time in a separate room for Q&A concerning the content of the present claims. Many observers stayed and presented questions. There were some instances which provided opinions that may prove useful for future proceedings (the photograph shows the Q&A meeting).

The next court date is still pending, but as soon as it is set, we will upload it to this blog or the APFS website. The attendance of observers provides great power. Please come to court as an observer!