message from Suraj's widow

Dear Supporters,

Thank you for your continued concern with regard to the incident of Abubakar Awudu Suraj.

On November 9^th the High Court, under judge Hiroyuki Kanno, rejected the appeal of Suraj’s mother against the overturning of the ruling of Tokyo District Court by the Tokyo High Court.

It has been more than 6 years since my husband died. The trial has made me face the reality of his death and on numerous occasions I have felt close to losing my strength to carry on.

But despite this I was able to receive courage to carry on from all of those who came to give their support by observing the court case and the sharing of your kind words. I would not have been able to have continued upon this long path without you and am deeply grateful to you all.

While my husband can not be brought back to us, in order to prevent his death from being in vain, I have taken this route in order to stop such death from happening once again. Despite your kind support we have not achieved the desired result and this is sorely disappointing.

We have fought together for justice, but at the decision of the supreme court it has been judged that a re-trial is not necessary to deal with the significant issues left behind by this case. This has left me in much pain and uncertainty.

Even though the result is bitter we have through the process identified many details of the incident, the video tape of Suraj's forced return has been screened in court and we have been able to see the 6 immigration officers, and this has been most important to me and his relatives. Due to all of your support we were able to ascertain the relation between the immigration officers’ forceful handling of my husband and his death, and the fact that we won in the district court has allowed us to make some small impression upon the Ministry of Justice and the Immigration Bureau.

In order to prevent such sacrifice of life in the future I believe that those responsible for this incident, the Ministry of Justice and the Immigration Bureau must never forget my husband’s death. This wound will never heal for the rest of my life, but I hope to continue work towards Suraj’s hope, as expressed in his words “I want to help everyone”, and in aid of this I would be grateful if you would continue to speak of this incident for long into the future.

I am truly grateful for all of your warm support over this long period. I thank you from my heart. And I hope you continue to recall Abubakar Awudu Suraj for a moment now and then.

Please take good care of yourselves.

Yours sincerely

Suraj’s Widow

Report for 17th Bangladesh Boishakhi mela and Curry Festival 2016

17th Bangladesh boishakhi mela and curry festival was held on 17th, April, in Ikebukuro Nishiguchi Park. Although it was raining in the morning, fifteen Bangladesh curry booths as well as many other booths, like for Bangladesh traditional clothes and accessories, were there. 

In addition, some performers sang and danced Bangladesh traditional New Year’s songs on the stage at the center of the park. In this event, APFS held a free consultation space for those foreigners, having problems, such as for their visa, education, and job search. As a result, many foreigners visited us and consulted their problems. Three volunteers, including me Igarashi, joined this as flyer distributors. I am really glad to have this chance to talk to Bangladeshi, whom I do not know much about. I was amazed how cheerful and polite they are as well as their fluent Japanese skills. At the same time, however, I also felt strong necessity of help for those foreigners after hearing their concerns. Power from one person is little, but it would become bigger if everyone gets together. If you could not come to the festival this time, please join next year. Your world will be widened.

The lawsuit of Mr. Suraj’s case: Appealed to the Supreme Court

We appealed to the Supreme Court against the sentence by the High Court on February 1, which was the deadline of its procedure.

In the name of Suraj’s mother, we claimed on national compensation 2,500,000 Yen, which was admitted by the first trial. We have a message from Mr. Suraj’s wife to everyone who is interested in this case.

“Dear Supporters for Suraj’s case,

As Suraj’s wife, I would like to express my deep appreciation for your help.

Thanks to all of you, we can appeal and continue the lawsuit in the name of his mother on behalf of the bereaved family

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

 

Suraj’s wife”

 

The next trial will be conducted in the Supreme Court.

It would be nice if you could have an interest in this case continuously.

Thank you for your cooperation.

“It was not acceptable and understandable.”

Last time, we reported the judgment of the state compensation suit for Mr. Suraj’s in Tokyo High Court in short. This time, we want to tell you about things after the judgment.

We held a press conference at the Judicial Press Club in the Court (Take a look at a photo above), and a lot of media attended. Most of them asked Mr. Suraj’s wife about comment on the judgment, which made her at a loss for words. After the conference, we also held a briefing session in the same building. What impressed us deeply was that many supporters and spectators had been waiting for us until we appeared although over one hour had passed after the judgment (Take a look at a photo below). Mr. Kodama, a lawyer in the defense team, gave his impression of how difficult it was to fight against the country. At the last of the session, Mr. Suraj’s wife managed to comment about the judgment. “It was totally unacceptable, and I still cannot understand the meaning of it and current situation.”

Judgment was rendered at the state compensation suit for Mr. Suraj’s case in High Court

The judgment was rendered at the state compensation suit for Mr. Suraj’s in Tokyo High Court on January 18, 2016. This time, admission tickets were distributed and the public gallery was full.

The chief judge gave judgment that the original judgment should be reversed and the claim by the plaintiff at the first trial should be dismissed.

The reasons for the judgment were as follows:

At the process of Mr. Suraj’s death, he had already fainted before his body was forced to bend forward, which fact the plaintiff saw as a problem.

As for the cause of his death, there are no clear findings that imply suffocation, and on the contrary, the CTAVN had become significantly big in Mr. Suraj’s heart, which must have affected his health. As the diagnosis the six doctors (who were appointed by the defendant) gave, the cause of death was fatal arrhythmia caused by the CTAVN.

As for the illegality against the State Redress Law, the restraining acts by the officials were reasonable, and even if the stress given by the restraining acts caused the CTAVN disorders, the officials couldn’t have predicted it. Therefore, the restraining act was not illegal.

As regards the responsibility for the emergency treatment, a death by the CTAVN cannot be saved by AEDs, so even if the officials neglected the responsibility, there have been no casual relations with Mr. Suraj’s death.

As mentioned above, the rulings we have won in the District Court were all reversed, and based on the written documents by the famous doctors who were requested by the state regardless to expense (some of them didn’t even know the name of CTAVN exactly), the High Court judged that Mr. Suraj had already died before the officials restrained him for a rare disease called CTAVN, and it was impossible for the officials to predict it and it was also difficult to save his life, so they have no fault.

Protests from the public gallery were heard even after the court was dismissed, like: “We didn’t come here to hear such judgment!”, “I can’t believe such a judgment!”, “What an inhuman judgment!”

The above was just a quick report.

Important notice about Mr.Suraj's lawsuit

Thank you for your interests in Mr. Suraj's lawsuit. On Monday, January 18, the appeal court decision will be held. Pleaes Come to Court as an Observer to Support the Lawsuit.


This time, admission ticket is required to come into the court. Please make sure to come to the 2 nd distributing point at the main entrance of Tokyo high court to join the lottery by 2:40pm.

After the court, we will have a meeting to have a repoort by the plaintiff's lawyers. Please attend it as well as court.


Please invite your family and friends to be observers and lend us a hand!!!



High Court Judgment day 　＊only in Japanese

Day and time：Monday, January 18, 2016 3pm~

Place：Tokyo High Court, Court Room#825

ASIAN PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY (APFS)

Tel:03-3964-8739

E-mail:apfs-1987@nifty.com

We held APFS HOME PARTY!! (Voice from a volunteer)

On May 25th 2014, we held APFS HOME PARTY for our related people who are consulted and supporters for them.

We gathered 30 people who have various nationalities such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Philippines. About 5 members of staff also joined the events. One of the participants from Philippines cooked the meals for us and we enjoyed it. This party will be held at least once within two month for the communicating space between members, staffs and volunteers. During the party, we gave our self-introductions and we talked about “hope” individually.

What did this party give the participants? I thought this was a networking opportunity for participants. They are really busy because some manage their own restaurants and others engage in the building construction industry. One of the participants said that he does not take a leave even a day in a week. Our related people cannot meet usually. This party gives the happiness to share the present situation for each. They talked their lives. I could talk with them and learned about their countries and how they live in Japan.

I participated in APFS’s event for the first time today. It was nice that I could see the face of participants whom I will engage with. They are just one of them who are supported by APFS. I don’t know about them and their situation in Japan so I would like to know about them more through volunteering in APFS.